The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1907-06-12
EFTABEAUTIFULWILL
Joys Of Childhood, Happiness Of Low
ers and the Calm of Old Age.

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 testa-
ment of Charles Lounsbury, who died
in the Cook county asylum at Dun
ming, H., were disposed to agree with
him. Here it is:
81, Charles Lounsbury, being of
sound mind and disposing memory do
hereby make and publish this, my last
will and testament, in order as justly
as may be to distribute my interest in
the world among succeeding men.
t'That part of my interest which is
known in law and recognized in the
sheep-bound volumes az my property,
being inconsiderable and of no &C.
count, I make no disposal of in this
my will.
'sMy right to live; being but a life
estate, is not at my disposal, but these
things excepted all else in the world
now proceed to devise and bequeath-
Item: I give to good fathers and
mothers, in trust for their children, all
good little words of praise and encour-
agement, and all acquaint pet names
and endearmert, and I charge said
parents to use them justly and gene
rously, as the needs Of their children
may require.
ssItem: ] leave to children inclu-
sively, but only for the term of their
childhood, all and every, the flowers
of the fields, and the blossoms Of the
woods, with the right to play among
them freely according to the customs
Of children, warning them at the same
time against thistles and thorns. And
I 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 I leave the children
the long, long days to be merry in, in
q thousand ways, and the night and
the moon and the train of the Milky
Way to wonder at but subject ever
theless to the rights hereinafter given
to lovers.
"Item: I devise to boyss.jointly all
the useful idle fields and commons
where ball may be played; all pleas
ant waters where one may swim; all
snow-clad hills where one may coast,
and all streams and ponds where one
may fish, o. where, when grim win
ter comes, M may skate; to have
and to hold the same for the period Of
their boyhood. And allmeadows with
the clover blossoms and butterflies
thereof, the woods and their sppurten-
ances, the squirrels and birds, and
echoes and strange noises, and all dis
tant places which may be visited, to-
gether with the adventures there
found. And I give to said boys each
his own place at the Preside at night,
with all pictures that may be see in
the burning woods, to enjoy without
let or hindrance and without any i-
cumbrance or care.
ssItem: To lovers, I 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 desire to figure to>each other the
lastingness and beauty of their love.
"Item: To young men jointly, l de-
wise and bequeath all ~boisterous, in
spring sports or rivalry, and 1 give to
them the disdain of weakness and I'M
daunted confidence in their own
strength, though they are rude; l
leave memory, and I bequeath to
friendships, and of possessing COM
panions, and to them exclusively l
give all merry songs and brave Choir
uses, to sing with lusty voices.
''Item: And to those who are no
longer children or youths or lovers,
Burns and Shakespeare and of other
poets, if there be others, to the end
that they may live over the old days
again, freely and fully, without title
or diminution.
"Item: To our loved one with
snowy crowns I bequeath the happi-
les of old age, the love and graft
tude of their children until they fall
asleep."-New York Times.