National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-04-26
LAST TESTAMENTS.
THE OPENING OF A MAN,s WILL.
How Persons Vanity is Shown-IIIustration of
Particular Wills-Short, Plain, nliterate,
and Lengthy WiIIs-Singular and
POetical Wills

The great interest that centres around
the opening of mans will is not always the de-
sire to know just how he has left his money or the
| amount of the estate involved, but it is oftener
the desire to obtain insight into the real
character of the man. for let his viii be expressed
as if may let it be drawn by the most astute lawyer
let it be brief or long it is always an index to the
man debating it. If there are any eccentricities
of character they are developed the likes and
disikes are sure to crop out; the hopes, the aims
the ruling passions of life are there revealed the
! carefully guarded secret Of years is no longer
secret; the many things before inexplicable are
| fully explained. Traits of character not before
| suspected are manifested, and many man who
has gone through life apparently possessing a
! calm, kindly nature has by his will shown that
hate was the ruling passion of his lfe and, on the
Other hand, many who were deemed insensible to
1 to the woes and wants of their felioW-men have
by their last will and testament shown that it was
| for man, suffering man, they toiled early and
late, they bought and sold, and did not rest from
| their labors until the end in view was attained
The vanity of a man is more forcibly shown in
his viii than in any other way. The desire for ap
piause, the love of appreciation from his fellows,
the desire to rear lasting monument to his
name the desire to have the living bless his
name after his eyes are closed upon earth are in
| fuenceS at work in preparing that most import
until it is too late.
Some men are much more particular about the
manner of their will than they are about the mat
ter oft. The will of DR.. Martyr Payne was an
illustration of this. There was nothing excep-
honal in the bequests, but the care and minute
ness with which it was framed is remarkable. 1t
was written by his own hand and bound into a
volume of 100 manuscript pages. The cover was
very handsome, and in large gilt letters were the
words " My Will-Martyn Payne"
Wills are very uncertain things, and often those
which are drawn up with the utmost precaution
are contested and sometimes invaIidated while
the shortest, plainest, and maybe illiterate ones
may devise the property effectually as it is ne
cessary to have it done. The following, which was
admitted to probate in st. Louis, No. will prove
this assertion:
SOUTH ST. LOUIS F66y 9th 1876
the last will & words of John Cushing she says
John what you going to doe about this place he
says leave all to your management she says chill
dren may be quarlng about afterwards he says they
VIII have nothing to doe about all is in your hands
you may doe as you phase
JOHN KS x CUSHING.
mark.
Witness TIMOTHY J. COLLINS.
PATRICK KS BARRETT,
mark.
MRS. MURPHY.
mark.
To be worth her weight in gold is common ex-
preston, and used to express great admiration for
or appreciation of some particular quality ofmind
or disposition in the person spoken of. A literal
application of it was made in England some years
since, when an English gentleman in making his
Will bequeathed to his two daughters their weight
in one pound bank notes. The eldest daughter
got 951, 900 and the younger 957,344. Under such
circumstances one would not find fault with a
tendency to obesity.
very singular will was made by French gen.
tleman-Naugeas, the famous French gram
marian-who was SO prodigal during his lifetime
that he remained poor TO the end and was deeply
involved in debt To provide for the payment of
these debts he inserted the following clause in his
will:
Still, as it may be found that even after the
sale ofmy library and effects these funds will not
suffice to pay my debts the only means can think
of to meet them is that my body should be sold to the
surgeons on the best terms that can De obtained and
the pr oduct applied as far as it will go toward the
liquidation of any sums it may be found L still
owe.
There is refinement of malice and sardonic
satisfaction exhibited in the spirit which dictated
the following clause from the will of John Hylett
Stow, proved in 17S1 and it would seem almost
possible to imagine grim smile wreathng his
face when the person named in it received the
unexpected legacy:
hereby direct my executors to lay out five guineas
in the purchase of picture of the viper biting the be-
nevolent hand of the person who saved him from per-
Shing in the snow, if the be bought for the
money; and that they do, in memory of me- present
1t to, esq, kings counsel whereby he may have
frequent opportunities of contemplating on it. and by
a comparison between that and his own virtue be |
able to form certain judgment which is best and
most profitable, grateful remembrance of past
friendship and almost parental regard ingratude
and insolence. This direct TO be presented to him
Ill lieu of of legacy of three thousand pounds had
by former will, now revoked and burned, left him
One would hardly look for poetry in a will, yet !
even this solemn document has been done up in |
rhyme; but as it always pertains to commonplace |
matters and things. there is not much room for |
flights Of fancy or choice language. The will of |
John Cooper Grocott, an ootogenarian Liverpool |
solicitor, was of this nature. The whole will is too
long to be quoted in this connection but the con-
Guiding lines, given below, will give very good |
idea of the style of it:
This Will was published sealed, and signed
By the Testator, in his right mind,
In presence of us, who, at his request,
Have written names these facts to attest
]. G. D.