The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-01-20

=
nesday.
he arguments were continued yester-
davin the Michael Reilly will contest case
on frial before j Judge John A. Campbell
in The circuit court. The audience was
again of the size Of the one the day be-
fote-as many as could obtain admit
fance to the court room. There was
anfte liberal eprinkling OF ladies pres
an yesterday afternoon.
Mr. Hutchinson concluded his address
10 the jury yesterday afternoon at
ocIock and then Mr.. Henry N. Russell,
one of the counsel for the proponents
oil The will, arose and commenced his
address, which will be the closing one:
This trial. Mr.. Russell was in good
voice and his eloquence and earncstness
sygefe generally remarked upon. Mr.
effort for the contestants
which closed yesterday WAS acknowl-
edged on all sides to be magnificent
and effective appeal to the jury
al 8 40 Ir Hutchlnt,n resumed his
asilrcss to the jury. He said he
would restate some propositions stated
his colleague. He referred to the
ireiance placed by the other side on GER
faIa West Virginia cases which in fact
EN- irely different from what they
saflege.
Hero is q man of varied knowledge,
ia a large family, and nothing at all
prevent his leaving his property to
family, unless. there is case OF
lfsesiema nia which 4thWartea and
IdSarIed Ills mindi and%prevented hnn
a5 doing Justice to his kindred He
eited authorities showing that the tes-
fsskor must be,able to complement his
sntire estate. A man must retain sui
deient active memory to collect IN
liia mind without prompting. This Is
Is S1ndle of letter press copybook let
ster and you are told these letters were
nsaffe by the active memories of the.
cterks and sons. The will must
in accordance with the testator's
8iously expressed purposes.
ssehouler on Wills" says testator
sisienpabe ut the moment is not Of a
sound disposing mind The will will
9ios Atand even if he has glimmering,
iiiiisLy, lazy idea of his property. He
be capable Of measuring all the
5raparty, all the facts. Why, he didn'.
III an of common sense believe that
81 ichael Reilly was capable OF making
that Will.
e8 hear of the great love the old
sssfan held for Tom. Tom died. Tom
wife. Tom had children. girls
Xii boys His love for Tom was so
3rong hat he tears up that will and
outs Ehem all off, That's love, isn't it?
old man said, "My love for Tom is
gFeat will cut off the entire family"
rat is love; that is consideration.
;lo, hol a 10Th
do as lie pleased. And so he had.
Bit he had to be restricted by the laws
sofScom mon sense and the laws OF hui
saanity The right to draw o will is
given man by the sovereign power OF
the tate, and if the right does not come
within the dictates of conscience, then,
the individual will must be laid aside
fors the popular will.
He cited from the case of Young Vs.
baugh, in the Missouri reports,
Regarding a glimmering idea on the
bart of the testator. The supreme
court states that there must be more
Shan the mere understanding that the
testator is making a will The under
atanding is not all. There must be
ABILITY AND CAPACITY.
81 Michael Reilly may have understood
he was signing this will. Did he un-
on these trustees did he understand
3ho was leaving his property to trustees
until the longest liver OF his children
sand grandchildren is laid away in the
stomb2 Do you suppose Michael Reilly
understood that? Did he under
stand that he was placing the
Idol of his heart-the store of which be
was Captain on deck" in the hands of
trustees and that business would be dis
continued, and his name torn down
from the sign? Do you believe that ?
You can't make me believe it.
He continued citing the Missouri
case in which the decision of the lower
court was reversed. The old Romans
were capable of doing what our legisla.
ture has not seen fit to do: to prohibit
wills which do not observe the family
relation.
Fair proof must be given by those
who PROFOUND the will of its business,
and that the testator was capable In
this case they have utterly failed to sus-
tain this obligation.
lie brought in work by DR.. Isaac
Gray on mental capacity, in which the
author says the clements of testament
airy capacity are purely intellectual,
controlled by pure reason alone. The
moral part of our nature may be as
potent in making wills as the intel
lectual. All that the law requires IS
that the mind be not improperly di-
verified. This book takes up step after
step the transactions in this case.
All things being equal, a man having
sense may make a will, provided on its
: face it is not harsh and unnatural Ii
lit is the latter, the parties bringing in
&the will must bring in proof he had the
capacity to comprehend, not alone his
sproperty. but his children. A man may
he witness to will, but what may he
Know OF the capacity OF the man? The
supreme court says the evidence OF his
neighbors who have OCCASION to OBJ
serve and test his mental capacity is
soEdinarily the reliable evidence on the
SHnbject- "Schouler on Wills" says the
same thing.
ANhat have we here2 We have Mr..
asanb, a man OF high character, but he
Mss old, and was he not falling? He
did not remember the transaction, and
efdnot know he had signed the paper,
when or where. If you were trying
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