The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-07-07
WAS HE CRAZY?

They say this was the will of crazy
man. But could man who had such beau
tiful thoughts be crazy? Then the world
is mad--for there is more good in the world
than evil, more love than hate, more trust
than knavery, more light than darkness.
And this man, being near death when he
wrote, knew.
He was pauper and after saying he had
nothing to give that the moths might cor
rupt, did devise and bequeath as follows:
Item: | give to good fathers and moth
ers, in trust for their children, all good little
words of praise and encourag cement, and all
quaint pet names and endearments, and [
charge said parents to use them Justly and
generously, as the needs of their children
may require.
Item: leave to children ihclusive1y, but
only for the term of their childhood, all and
every, the flowers of the fields, and the BIOS
SONS of the woods, with the right to play
among them freely according to the Gus
toms of children, warning them at the same
time against thistles and thorns. And de-
wise 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 thousand ways, and the night and the
moon and the train of the Milky Way to
wonder at, but subject nevertheless to the
rights hereinafter given to lovers.
Item: | devise to boys jointly all the
useful idle fields and commons where ball
may be played; all pleasant waters where
one may swim; all snowclad hills where
one may coast, and all streams and ports
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
blossoms and butterflies thereof, the woods
| and their appurtenances, the squirrels and
birds, the echoes and strange noises, and all
distant places which may be visited, to
gether with the adventures there found
And [ give to said boys each his own place
at the tireside at night, with all pictures
that may be seen in the burning wood, tc
enjoy without let or hindrance and without
| any 1ncumbrance of care.
Item: To lovers, I devise their mag
mary world, with whatever they NAV 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 eac1
other the lastingness and beauty of Their
love.
Item: To young men jointly, devils,
and bequeath all boisterous, inspiring
sports OF rivalry, and give to them the dis
| dam OF weakness and undaunted confdenc,
in their own strength, though they ar,
rude; I give them the power to make last
ing friendships, and of possessing compan
ions, and to them exclusively I give al
merry songs and brave choruses, to sins
with lusty voices
Item: And to those who are no 1onge
children or youths or lovers, I leave mem
DRY, and bequeath to them the volumes O
the poems of Burns and Shakespeare and o
ether poets, if there be Others, to the ent
that they may live over the old days again
freely and fully, without 1.-THE or dinlinu
! ton.