The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-04-18
CnIinns wills.


of water to beggar, by their wills leave enor-
nous sums 10 charities, TO secure for them
selves kind of posthumous admiration. Others
allow not their resentment to sleep with them
in the grave, but leave behind them wills which
excite the bitterest feelings and animosities
among the surviving relatives Some wills are
remarkable for their conciseness and perspi-
Guilty; others for their unprecedented shapes
and curious contents. One man provides for a
college, another for a cat; one gives q legacy to
provide bread and herring to the poor in Lent,
and kid gloves to the minister; while others
provide for bull-batting, the welfare of maid-ser.
wants, and the promotion of matrlmony. John
Nudge has kept his name out of oblivion by
giving twenty shillings year to poor man
TO GO about the parish church OF Trysun
during the sermon to keep people awake
and dogs out of the church. Henry Greene, of
Melbourne, Derbyshire, gave his property for
providing green waistcoas for four poor
women every year, such waistcoats to be lined
with green galloon lace. In the same neigh
borhood, and inspired by similar feeling,
Thomas Gray provided grey waistcoats and
grey coats. John Nicholson, statoner of Lon
don, was so attached to his family name that
the bulk of his property was given in charity
Tor the support and maintenance of such poor
persons in England as should appear to be of
the name OF Nicholson. David Martinett, of
Calcutta, while giving directions to his eXecu-
tor, said:-"As TO this tulsome carcase, haV.
ing already seen enough Of worldly pomp, I
desire nothing relative to it to be done, only its
being slowed away in my old green chest to
save thDtllstNs' Ilt bucu DelubdbUbu W Out
man all the debts he owed, and to another his
sincerity.
A Lancashire gentleman, in the last century,
having given his body to the worms Of the
family vault, bequeathed an ounce OF modesty
10 the authors OF the London Journal and Free
BrttO1, giving as his reason Tor the smallness
OF the legacy, that he was convinced that an
ounce VIII be found more than they'll ever
make use Off Another testator after having
stated at great length in his will the num-
ber of obligations he was under bequeathed
to his benetactor ten thousand-here the leaf
turned over, and the legatee turning to the
other side found the legacy was 900 thanSs.
A testator, who evidently intended to thWart
his relations, and be bcnetactor TO the lawyers.
gave to certain persons las many acres of land
as shall be found equal to the area enclosed
by the centre of oscillation of the earth in a
revolution round the sun, supposng the mean
distance of the sun 2l 600 semi-diameters of
the earth from It," An uncle left in his will
eleven silver spoons to his nephew, adding:-
'lf | have not left him the dozen, he knows
the reason.n The fact was, the nephew had
some little time before stolen the twelfth
spoon from his relative Sir Joseph Jekyll
LETT his fortune to pay the national debt.
''Sir Joseph was a very good man and good
lawyer but his bequest was very foolish
one; he might as well have attempted to stop
the middle area of Blackfriar's bridge with
nothing TO Lord Say, which legacy l give
him because i know he will bestow it on
the poor;" and then after giving other equally
peculiar legacies, he finished with Item.
was exemplided in his will. Among other
things he bequeathed to Mr.. John Grattan,
Of ClonmethaD, q silver box, Fin which
desire the said John to keep the tobacco he
usually cheweth called pigtail" The cele-
brated Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, left Pitt
100000 for 'the noble defense he had made for
the support OF the laws of England, and to pre-
vent the ruin of his country" A somewhat
similar bequest was not long ago made to Mr..
DisTaeli. Bacon left will appointing six execu-
tors, but no property except his name and
memory, which he bequeathed to ''men,s char
table speeches, to foreign nations and the next
ages" Lord Clarendon had nothing to leave
his daughter but his executors kindness; and
Lord Nelson left neither will of real nor per-
sonal estate behind him, although he bequeathed
his adopted daughter to the benedcence of his
country. Millions Will was nuncupatiye-that
is, by word of mouth-he being blind at the
time he made it, Shakespeares was made in
regular form; so was ByrOn's Chatterton's will
was very strange one, consisting of a mixture
of leVity, bitter satire and actual despair, an
nouncing purpose of selfdestrucGion. Others
wrote their wills in verse, and, as a specimen,
we will give that of William Jacket, of the parish
of Islington, which was proved in 1887, when no
witnesses were required to a will of personal
estate:-
give and beuueath,
When Pm land underneath,
To my two loving SISTERS most dear,
The whole of my store,
Which Gods goodness has granted me here
And that none may prevent
This my will and in'ent.
Or occasion the least OF law racket,
With a solemn appeal,
] confirm, sign, and seal
This, the act and deed of Will Jacket.
Some wills contain kind of autobiography OF
the testator, as well as his thoughts and opinions.
Such was the will of Napoleon, which gave a
handsome legacy to the wretch Cantillion, 'who
had as much right to assassinate that oligarchst,
the Duke of WELLINGTON. "a the latter had To
send me to perish on the rock of ST. Helena
Such also was Sir William Petty's, which states
with certain amount of self pride, that ''at the
full ace of Is, had obtained the Latin, French
and Greek tongues" and at 20 years of age
'had gotten up threescore pounds with as much
mathematics as any of my age were known tc
have"