The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1866-05-19
CURIOUS WILLS.
From Chambers Journal.

enormous sums to charities. 10 secure 70.
themselves kild of posthumoas admiration
Others allow not their resentmentS to sieeE
With them in the gave; but leave behind
them which excite the btterest feelings and
animosites among the surviving relatives
Some Wills are remarkable for their concise
ness and perspicuity; others tor their unpre'
cedenied shapes and contents. One man
provides for college, another for a cat; one
gives . legacy &c provide bread and herring'
to the poor ia Lent. aud kid gloves to the
minister; while others provide for bull bait
ing, the Welfare of maid servants, aud the
promotion OF msrrimony. John Rud1,e has
kept his name ont OF oblivion by giving
twenty shillings year TO a p or man to go
about toe parish church If Irysul during the
sermon lime to keep people awake and dogs
out OF the church. Henry Greene, OF Mel
bourne, Derbyshirc, gave his property ior
providing for green waistcoats fJr four poor
woineg every year, such wais' coats to be
lined with green galloon lace. In the same
ueig hurho0d, and inspired b. similar feel
ing Thomas Gray provided gray wai.tcoat,
AID gray coats. john Nicholson, stationer
Of Lonion, was so tacied to his family name
that the bulk of his property was given in
charity for the support aud maintensnce Of
such poor persons in England as should APP
pear 20 be of the name ot Nicholson. DAVID
Martinez, Of Calcutta, while giving directions
20 his ex C u,iorer said a. TO the full
som. carcass, having already s.eu enough of
worldly ponp, desire nothing relative To it
70 be done only its being stowed away In my
old green chest Ia save EXPENSES. He then
brqueathed 10 mau ali the debts ne oweJ,
and ~ another his sincerity.
La ca.hIrc geuil-mau IN the last cen-
tury, having given his bod: TO ine WORMS Of
';h- family vault. bequeathei an ounce Of
no ie.tv 10 The authors VI Tse L1adon J',iTlIi
dnI F,ee B.-itoi. giving as his reason for the
snailne,s of the legacy, that be MAS cons
weed that all ouac1 will hr found mure
':h.n they'll ever IN axe of. Another
testator, af:er having st.iei at great length
IN his viii the mum Der Of obligations he T.S
under, bequestliei 10 his beneitctors 1000
here ih. leaf turne'l over and the !.r.tee
turning n the other side fouId the legacy
wts I00JO thanks testatDr, who evident:
" intend to tn . I'd hi, relations. an | be u
t-uef,ctor to TIL lawyers, gave = certaln per-
aOn " aS MANY acres vi lini as shall he tUuu
equal the area eiito-ed by the centre OF
usciila.iou of the earth In revolution round
,Ae sun. supposing the mean distance OF the
s.u 81 .tJJ semi dIam-tsr5 nj the earth ir in
it." An uncle left in hi. Will clev II silver
spoons 10 his nephew, I'd ling: Ii ave
not LEFT him a dozen, he knows the reason.
The fact vas, the nephew hal some time
before stole the twelfth spoon rrIm hi,
relative Sir Jose n J-<y.l left his iprtgn-
I, pay for The national debt. When Lprl
M.s,ieid heard oi this, he said SIR Joseph
Vas ,ery cool msu and good lawyer.
but bis beIue-t Was very foolish one; ne
might ss we'll have attempted 10 stop the
mld- arch of BlnckfrIlr, bridge with his
Z I
".not1i 20 Lori Say, which eyac. / give
h:n because snyw n wi! beStss 1t on the
po r. And then, alter living other equiily
D.. ui,a- legac,es he finished with = item. 1
ii up the ghost" Dean Swifi's character
WAS exemplifed in his will. Among other
things he begueaiLed TO Mr.. John Gr2tiau. of
Cionmethan. = silver box, 'iu which deSre
the sad John TO keep the tobacco he usually
cheweih called pik,ail.' The celebrated
Ssr.h. Duchess OF Marlborough. left PIT.
GlUU01 for t'fhe noble defence he made for
the support o! the laws of England, and TO
prevent the ruin Of his cozntry." A some
what similar bequest was not long ago made
to Mr. DisrAeii. Bacon lett will appointing
s:x executors, but 10 property except his
name and memory, which he beques,hed to
mems charitable speeches. to foreign
nations and the next ages. Lori Clarendon
executors kindness, and Lord Nelson left
neither will OF real nor personal estate
behind him. although he hequeathed his
adopted daughter to the b-neticenc of his
country. M.l;ous will was muncupative-
that is by word OF nouih-he being blin AZ
the time he made il. Shakespeare WAS made
In regular form was Byrou's. Chatter
ton. wll! was n very strange one, consisting
Of mixture of levity bitter satire. and actual
despair. announcing a purpose of self de-
sructi1n. Others wrote their wills in yerse.
and, as a specimen, We will give that of Viii
liam Jacket, of the parish of l.lington, which
was proved in 1877, when no witnesses were
required to will OF personal estate:
| give snd tegusath,
When Ian laid underneath,
To my two loving sisters most dear.
The whole cf my store,
Were it twice As much more,
Which Gods goodness has granted me here.
And that none mag prevent,
This nv will .ut intent,
Or occasion the least Of law racket, -r.--..
IL ti With a solemn appeal.
l confirm, sign and seal,
This, the act and deed of VIII Jacket.
Some wills contain a kind of autobiogra.
phv Of the tsstatOr, as well as his ihoaghts
and opinions Such was the will of Naps-
leon. which gave handsome legacy TO the
wretch Cantliinn, ''who had as much right
to ass ,ssinaie that cligarchist, the Duke OF
Wellington, AS the latter had to send me to
perish on the rock of ST. Helena Such
also was Sir William Pettys. which states,
with a certain amount of selfpriie, hat e at
the full age Of l5. | had obtained the L,tin.
French and Greek language and al 20
years Of age, "hsd gotten up three score
l. L r
ny age were known to have