Evening journal., 1889-11-12
LAST TESTAMENTS. 10
THE STRANGE FANclES WHICH FIND
EXPRESSION IN THEM.

hooSo Aho 1ihst WILL ana Awful Fate
of Its Maker.
The many little whirnsicalities which crop
out in human nature as the hour of final dis
solution draws near are equally as unac-
countable as the other peculiarities-eyery
one is distinctively peculiar in his way-for
which he or she was noted ''when the pulse
beat high with hfe,n and death was last in
thought.
Any one will attest to the truth Of this
who hns ever had the pleasure-it is a real
pleasure 10 one with taste for things out OF
the ordinary-of examining musty old rolls
Of quaint and curious testamentary dncu-
mehts. The many oddities found in 'fast
Wills and testaments,n y cannot with any assur-
ance Of infalhbility be taken as an
index or criterion to the real char
acter Of the person whose signature
is attached thereto. One NAV pursue
the even tenor of his way and live out the
afternoon, the twilight and the shady even
ing of a long life, and at last plunge into
darkness which follows it at its close. re-
spected for his sagacity, his good sense and
good management, with provisions in his will
which, had they been given ante-mortem in
stead Of post-mortem publicity, would have
been the cause of his last days being sper
within the precincts of some insane asylum.
SOME STRANGE CASES.
These thoughts have been suggested prina-
rily by recent events, some remarkable speci-
mems Of testamentary curios having quite
lately been made public. refer to the Nash
vile, Tenn, woman who loft $4,000 to her
two dogs as beneiciaries; to the Columbus,
S. G., man who left vast estate Of 5000
acres tied up in such a shape that it cannot
possibly benefit the persons for whom intend
cd before the year 1889, and the Wabash,
Ind, woman who requested that her heart
be removed from the body, and that her
hands and feet be amputated and together
be sent to and buried ia France, the scenes of
her childhood days, while the mutilated body
was to be consigned to mother earth near her
late home in the Hoosier state.
With these three extraordinary documents
as a text, propose to trace the origin Of will
making, and consider the most uncommon
provisions in the hundreds Of testamentary
rarities which have gone ON record since the
first property owner wrote ~ hereby will
and bequeath."
The father Of all wills and the most ancient
document Of its kind known to the historian
and the antiquarian, is that Of ''the great
king Sennacherib, mentioned SO frequently
sephus Sennacherib lived and reigned be-
tween the years 7O2 and ESQ B. Cover
$500 years ago. In the will, which was
found by excavators on the site of the royal
library. the ''grest invinciblen wills his son:
certain ''stores of precious thingsn at that
time on deposit in the Temple of Nebo. 1t is
a sad commentary on the crude civilization
| Of the times that these same sons should
50 far forget their filial duties as to assassi
nate their considerate parent while he wa,
busily engaged in worshiping his favorit,
god.
The Romans, 400 or 500 years before tn,
birth Of Christ, adopted the plan Of settinl
forth, before taking their departure for tn,
unknown world, their wishes as to what dis
| position should be made Of the treasures 40
cumulated during an aggressive lifetime
/ These instruments, which were written b.
tho testabors upon skins and parchment wer
| kept in the Temple of Vesta, the senio
priestess having special charge Of all socl
documents. Under the Oldest OF Enalisl
laws regarding viii making an infant-an,
one under the age Of 81 years is supposed &
be an infant ia English law-was, and Is eve
to this day, debarred from bequeathing prop
erty. The old Roman laws, before the tim
Of Christ, were more liberal According b
the code Of these ancient times a male VIII
had arrived at the age Of Is years, or a fe
made who had only passed her fourteentl
sumner, could if they had amassed property
dispose of il in any way they ssw fit. Som
writer's believe that the 'Twelve Table Laws
were the foundation upon which all old Re
nlan wills rest These laws were enacted be
tween 400 and 500 years before the time O
the Saviour, as mentioned above, where allu
sion is first made 30 ancient Roman wfis.
In some respects these old time document
are surprisingly like thoee of modern date
the laws respecting their final administratio
were very similar. At the present time If
maker Of a win is drunk, insane or unduf
influenced at the time the document is signec
IL Is void and WITHOUT effect. The aDcien
Romans bad precisely the same provision
with others added, one Of which did not a
low deaf and dumb person the privilege {
siisposing of his realty or chattsla
Augustus Cesar was the first millionaii
20 dispose Of his property through the instrI
mentality Of a will
The custom of disposing Of propert
through wills was carried west into Britai
by the Romans, and prevailed until the tin
OF the conquest, when stringent laws WEI
passed making it all but impossible for ii
landed interests to get outside certai
circle, tho leaders Of which soon become lor'
and noblemen. In the 900 or 800 years whiC
followed IN the wake of the oonqueror Il
! will making custom was almost lost sight 0
! Il was revived, however, about the time
, Edward Y, and has since remained o reoo
nized institution. One Of the grandeet trea
! incident to a visit 30 London is day at Sor
ersst House, the English Temple OF Vesta, Il
place where London wills are stored AS q
his9orical iuetitutson this wiz repository Is
q GOOD second In point OF interest to the Brith
! Museum itself. All the willis which ha
been made IN London since the latter part
a the Ptfteonth century are now reposing up,
J, its many shelves They number thousan
upon thoulDds, 90 many indeed, it is sai
that were they pasted together end 30 "a
. they would giIple tive entire giObc With a p
{ per belt
! Charles v, the monastical watch oollectC
: made a will in which be left bis watches al
rich tapestries 10 the monastery where
= ended his DAYS. Other famous historical p,
sonages have similarly disposed OF thetr real
1 and personal property. At Somerset hog
4 the VII Of the immortal Shakospcare, the o
= in which te beqDeaths bis best bed and b
8 ding TO hk wife, rests beside thoee Of Jot
son, the dictionary maker, Sir Isaac Newt
= Van Dyke, and those of Wellington, -
= iron duke, - aud Nelson, the hero Of Trafalg'
OF the hundreds Of other wills Of greater
less historical interest, crowded at the ra
Of 1900 70 1900 per year into this par
Pantheon, spooe forbids mention, as ST
outside the above named immortals wol
only open the fioodgates for an avalanche