Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-10-04
LOVE ALL ne HAD 20 Leave
POOR AND INSANCE,
LEFT A BEAUTIFUL WILL

LEFT A BEAUTIFUL WILL
| Justice Walter Lloyd smith, who
presides over the third department Ol
the Appellate Division of the Supreme
Court, brought with him to the dinner
of the New YORK University Law
School Alumni Association Saturday
night what he said WAS the most re-
markable document that ever came
into his possession. Others who read
the document, the last Will and tesla
ment of Charles Lounsbury, who died
in the Cook County Asylum at Dun H.
ing, ILL.,, were disposed to agree wit b
him. Here it is:
| Il, Charles Lounsbury, being OF
sound mind and dispos ing memory, do
| hereby make and publish this, my last
will aid testamen in order as justly
as may be to distribute my interest i'll
the world among succeeding men.
THAT part Of my interest which is
known in law and recognized in the
sheep bound volumes as my property
being incOnsiderable and of no &C
count, l make no disposal OF in this
my will.
My right to live being but life
estate, is not at my disposal, but, these
things excepted, ali else in the world L
now proceed to devise and begueath:
Item: l give to good fathers and
mothers. in trust for their children, all
good little words of praise and Ell.
c0uragement, and all uuain' pet names
and endearments, and l 4rge said
parents to use them justly i gener-
ously, as the needs of Their children
may reQulre
Item: leave to children inclusive
y, but only for the term Oh their child.
hood, all and every, the flo . rs of the
fields and the blossoms of tle woods,
with the right to play among them
freely according to the customs of
children, warning them at the same
oieAAS cSNo NdiobiC5 Gnu ULol Ab AHu
| devise to children the banks of the
brooks, and the golden sands beneath
the waters thereof, and the Odors of
the willows that dip therein, and the
white clouds that float high over the
giant trees. And leave the children
The long long days to be merry in, In
thousand ways, and the night and the
moon and the train of The Milky Way
to wonder at, but subject, ne yertbe-
less, to the rights hereinafter given to
lovers.
Item: l devise to boys jointly all
the useful idle fields and commons
where ball may be played; all pleasant
waters where one NAV swim; all snow
clad hills where one may coast, and all
streams and ponds where one may fish,
Or where, when grim winter comes,
one may skate; to have and to hold the
same for the period of their boy hood.
And all meadows with the clover bios
SONS and butterflies thereof, the woods
and their appurrenances the squirrels
and birds, and echoes of the strange
n0lses, and all distant places which
may be visited, together with the ad-
ventures there found. And L give to
said boys each his own place at the
ireslde at night, with all pictures that
may be seen in the burning wood. to
enjoy without let or hindrance and
without any incumbrance of care.
Item: TO lovers, l devise their
imaginary world, with whatever they
may need, as the stars of the sky, the
red roses by the wall, the bloom of the
hawthorn, the sweet strains of music
and aught else by which they may de =
sire to figure to each other the lasting
ness and beauty of their love.
Item: To young men jointly l de-
wise and bequeath all boisterous, In
spiriDg sports of rivalry. aud l give to
them the disdain of weakness and
undaunted confidence in their own
strength, though they are rude; give
them the power to make lasting
friendships. and of possessing com
panions, and to them exclusively l give
all merry songs and brave choruses,
to sing with lusty voices.
Item: And to those who are no
longer.children or youths or lovers l
leave memory, and l bequeath to them
the volumes of the poer.s of Burns
and Shakespeare and of others poets,
if there be others, to the end that
they may live over the old days again,
freely and fully, without tithe or di-
minutiOn.
Item: To our loved ones with snowy
crowns l bequeath the happiness of
old age, the love and gratitude of their
children until they fall asleep. New
York Times