St. Landry democrat., 1888-08-18
CONCERNING WILLS.

fne Magnificent style of I1oaern Days Con-
trasted with the Productions of Old.
have been giving some attention to
the various important wills reported
by Ve1al press, / find them in
st"uctive. AustcrGly so. Not to say
that the wills of the rich do not afford
also real entertainment to many sem
sible people; BUT I speak of thcm from
my own standpoint. So ia. they have
not appealed to ny personal sense OF
the amusing.
My, abstract researches show thai
the style of wills is changing. They
are becoming more magnificent. 1t IS
not an uncommon thiag to find an heir
receiving a million or two million dOt-
lars> to find loving son-the hard
headed one Of the fanily-in a posi-
tlen to wipe away his more bitter tears
with the stock or half a railroad; to
See another loving sen, who has shown
himself properly possessed of the filial
quality of business Judgment" tak-
ing his melancholy way up a fashion
.able avenue with the title deeds to
mos of it IN his pocket.
This change in wills has. been so
sudden as to take many unagares A
young friend Of mine, accustomed to
the older and more modest and 5taid
style of viii, i. ,a1l instance of this. He
tells me that he had been living AL his
life IN the same block with a young
lady who about a year age married a
chump"-l give my friend own Ian
guage-'ta chEmp from Rochester. /
thought nothing of the circumstance"
he continued; supposed it was all
right; but NOW her father has died, and
his will gives her a miliion-and there
was living right in the same block!'
He says that he will go around that
block more uDw, but Judge from his
expressions of disgust that he will go
around SO fast = under .self-inficted
kicks-that he will not have oppor-
tunity to much improve his acquaint-
ance. "A million-,and there l was
living right in the same block"
Wills are certainly growing very
magnificent, But while it is good
idea that in will man should give
as much as he can conveniently spare
from his business, it is also true that
too great cost in fashion tends rather
to Encouragement than;to health emu
lation- This may result in a deadly
injury 10 literature.
Under the luxurious vogue now rul-
ing, no uncle with any sense of the
ridiculous will 60 to India, heap up
fortune, get himselfforgotten and make
will-an for the purpose of leaving
a nephew in the Sundayschool line
''enough to buy back the old COW and
the red farm from the grasping farm
er. Neither will theregbe bequethed a
.'snug fortune OF 5000 to the boy
who five years before rnobly refused to
belt the deVisor in the hack of the head
with SNOWFALL. This is bad; not
that ! care for the boy's disappoint-
ment, but If school imps learn that or
dinary decency is not paying large
dividends, we shall all be snew- -balled
to death before We get our debts paid. |
Formerly, with few dollars worth |
of personal plunderand stock of good |
advice and sanguine expectations, a
man could make very nice and stylish |
will. The form was about as follows: /
81, John Peterby Williams, being in
full possession of all my monumental /
faculties, do bequeath to my beloved /
wife, Nancy Lee Williams, in lieu Of
dover, dentrifice or dotal gift, my set
of Plutarch's Lives andmy Ms. poems.
Item.-To my son, William Williams,
my uniform coat of the Goshen Guards,
and the cost of probating this will.
Item. To my daughter, Eliza Will
iams, the whole rest, residue and Il
remainder of my estate, whether real
Or personal, in action spr in repose,
wherever it may be found; and if not
found, then she to pay the cost of the
search. Item.-And / do will, be-
lueath, devise and execute, and do
aereby release to my youngest son,
Algernon Williams, my Waterbury
watch, earnestly believing that while
he is winding it each day he will have
Lmple time for forming good .resolu-
ions. and that, in the brief intervals
tfterward, he will have no apprecia-
lie opportunity of falling away from
hem.n
But this style of will went out with ]
he cameo 'breast-pin.' It is a sin
,ular reflection that the two qualities, t
ize and value, received about the same
reatment IN each.- Hilkiston Fish. in I
7uck. #
The Mother at Home. :,