Tombstone epitaph., 1917-02-18

~ FORGE WASHINGTON'S will
 was signed at Mount Vernon
 July 9, 1199. five months be
 fore his death. From begin ming to end 1t gives evidence of the firm hand and clear mind of its maker It contains many legal phrases. but it was not written under the instruction of a lawyer. and there is reason to be- lieve that nobody was consulted in its construction.
 Modern skill has rescued the docu- ment from dilapidation and impending destruction and has assured to all Americans the opportunity to read 1t exactly as it was written. IL was filed for probate in the year 1900 iG the court house of Fairfax county, Vir- ginia, in which Mount Vernon is situ- ated. In the intervening 116 years it has undergone vicissitudes. including much miscellaneous manhandllng and one removal and concealment.
 Through all of a century he who ran so far as Fairfax court house might read at his leisure and with his own hands manipulate the original document and at his pleasure thumb and tumble 1t, with only a court at tendant near to see that the will was not carried away, wholesale or piece meal. One of the pages of the will bears mute testimony to the success of some unknown enthusiastic relic hun ter who tore off and carried away one corner.
 At the beginning of the Civil war the will was taken to Richmond, and there securely hidden. It was re- turned to Fairfax court house when care was not taken of the will of Martha Washington, on file in the same court house, and 1t was carried of by a Union soldier and was for a time in the possession of the late J. Pierpont Morgan. After a suit had been begun to secure its restoration to Virginia and Fairfax county, 1t was returned to the court house.
 The decades that have passed since the filing of General Washington's will, the journey to and from Rich mond, the careless If affectionate han ding to which the precious manuscript was subjected did not tend to its pres ervation. Finally 1t became a thing of rags and tatters. Its custodians, with the best intentions, added to its peril of early and complete oblitera- ton by persistently folding 1t length wise, following the original fold of the clerk of 1900.
 In charge of the repair section of the manuscript division is William Berwick, said to be the greatest living expert in the restoration of old manu- scripts. To him was given the task of restoring the immortal document. Impressed with desire 10 preserve the tremendously important and in- teresting relic, Mir. Berwick has ac- complished something very like a mir acle. Although the work was begun by Mir. Berwick in 1910 1t was but recent ly completed. The restorer, working odd days and intervals sometimes widely apart, needed much time to bring the manuscript to its present form.
 As soon as he finished with the will of General Washington he began the restoration of the will of Martha Washington, returned by Mir. Morgan to Fairfax county. The elder Mir. Nor gan having had the Martha Washing ton will In his possession, and having bound and preserved 1t carefully, it was in much better condition than that of the first president and gave Mfr. Berwick far less trouble. Further, it contains hut eight pages.
 Notwithstanding Mir. Morgan's care of Martha washington's will, the vir- ginians apparently are yet somewhat resentful that the document was kept from theE, so long. The text of the inscription over Martha Washington's will in Fairfax court house is as fol lows:
 "The original last will and testa- meht of Mrs. Martha Washington. It is dated March 4. 1902. and was ad- mitted to probate by the county court of Fairfax J1ae 21, 1902. and was re- stored to its present form in the year