The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-02-12
Curious Wills.

Tie Illustrated London NelOS has
the following anecdotes:
In lT96 two EngIishmen were call
ed upon to act as executors for com-
mon friend just deceased. They
found the will duly executed, bat
were extremely puzzled, on eOmpar-
ing the schedule of property with the
testamentary dispositions, 10 perceive
there would be deficit of a consider
able sum. The executors were SC
much the more surprised as they had
always known their friend to be pc
culiarly accurate, as well as strictly
honorable, and they believed him
quite Incapable of bequeathing q
larger amount than he possessed
They searched carefully, therefore, in
every conceivable place, but without
finding any clue to the missing
amount beyond scrap of paper on
which the memorandum, "e700 to be
taken out of TILL" AS this sum cor
responded with the amount by which
they were out of their reckoning, they
naturally concluded that the testatoT
must possess some strong box which
he designated by the word "Till,n as
he was not in business, and could,
therefore, only intend it figuratively;
still, after the most diligent inquiry,
no such reserve appeared. Under
these circumstances, the effects Of the
testator, furniture, plate, library, &c,
were sold and the proceeds distributed
1t was not until some time after, that,
still pondering on the provoking
mystery, it occurred to one of the
parties that the writer of the paper
might have meant some book the au-
thor's name of which was "Till," the
more probably as it was written with
capital I. and referring to the cata-
logue he found there inventoried
among the folios volume of Bishop
Tillotson's sermons, q fact which at
once threw q new light on the diff
Guilty. Having communicated his
discovery to his co.executor, they re-
paired together to the bookseller who
had purchased the library, and in
quired whether he had asyet disposed
of the volume in question. 81 had
parted with it,n replied he, "but, as it
happens, it has been returned on my
hands, for the purchaser to whom ]
sent it in the country objected to pay
the price, and / shall, therefore, be
glad 10 dispose of it to you" The
value was agreed upon and the book
carried home, where, after carefully
turning it over page by page, bank
notes to the amount of exactly g70O
were found, as the scrap OF paper had
stated, sin Til" and the intentions
Of the testator were carried out.
nr- EIlarhv died in TOndon in Feb
ruary, 1927. He was q member of the
Society of Friends. He passed for
being q very eccentric character, and
all his habits bore the stamp of origi-
nality. In his will are to be found
some singular elauses-among them
the following: 'Item. ! desire that
Immediately after my death my body
shall be carried to the Anatomical
Museum in Aldersgate street, and
shall there be dissected by Drs. Law
renee, Tyrrell, and Wardrop, in order
that the cause of my malady may be
well understood. Item. 1 bequeath
my heart to Mr.. w., anatomist; my
lungs to Mr. R., and my brains to Mr..
F., in order that they may preserve
them from decomposition; and / de-
clare that If these gentlemen shall
fail faithfully to execute these my
last wishes in this respect, 1 will
come-ifit should be by any means
possible-aud torment them until
they shall comply" This threat did
not much alarm the above-named
parties, for 1t appears that they un.
hesitatingly renounced their severa
legacies.