The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-10-25

to many serious yet amusing conten-
penditure. Probate courts have care
] fully refrained from laying down a
bill of fare.
Hon. John Marshall Gest, Of Phila-
delphia, learned author on tesla
mentary lore, says: "It is probable
that the conventional collation. of
cold ham, bread and butter, pickles
(the long, green, pimply kind) and
coffee with perhaps the addition of
cake, in accordance with the deced-
ents station in life, would meet with
the approval of the strictest judge.
Of course, where the residuary lega-
tees partake of the repast, it would
not lie in their guilty mouths, for
they would be stopped or estopped,
to object to the cost of dainties which
they had helped to consume"
Canvas-back ducks and champagne
even if, obtainable, would doubtless
be disallowed, for the reason put by
an old writer on the subject, "as not
congruent to the sadness and dole
fulness of the action in hand"
Crackers, cheese and tobacco" hayt
been approved by learned judge who
added that beverage" of some
kind would have made the meal "less
tunwholesome and more palatable";;
but this was before the unhappy days
of national prohibition.
How virtue and vanity, how benev-
olence and miserliness can shine out
in will! In wills the dead speak, and
in manner, live again. How often
and how plainly in them do we see
vanity, "a ruling passion strong in
DEATH" and the unmistakable desire
for posthumous fame and glory.
On the tomb of the poet Gay in
Westminster Abbey are his own
mocking lines: =
Life is jest and all things show it.
thought so once and now I know;it. -
Wills have existed from the dawn
Of creation; possibly Adam and Job,
but surely Abraham and Jacob, made
wills. Did not Abraham appoint his
steward his heir, and did not Jacob
give Joseph a portion above his, breth-
rem? .,.. ~ .n..,@. =
The poet Virgil died some. years
before the Christian era; by his will,
he directed that his Aeneid be burned
no doubt source of deep regret to
i'many youth since who has. essayed
a knowledgeNof Latin. Il
Horace, the poet, wrote a satire on
LEGACY Hunters" which is as full Of
practical wisdom, today as it was two
thousand years ago, and it can be U.s.
! ed now as an5excellent guide for those
seeking to iinsinuate themselves into
the affections Of relatives and friends
| 1who are financially able to bestow
/ testamentary favors. :,
+ The writing Of a will is serious
and formal matter, for the testatoT
knows when he pens it, that no wound
inflicted can be remedied, no neglect
repaired. And scarcely a will of any
length is written which does not af
/ ford some knowledge of the heart of
the person Who made it.. !
Suggestions of interest, prejudice
or revenge may induce a witness to
shade the truth or swerve from it but
the testator recollecting that the doc
ument will not see the light until he
and Unknown sea which surrounds all
the world, tends to render his state
ments of unquestfoHed verac:ty; the
real wishes of theI innermost heart
are suffered to appear, for the writer
will be Indifferent to consequences
when they are disclosed. !,
Mr.. Dooley, the humorist, has re-
Gently written book on making a
Will and Other Necessary Evils;
here, as elsewhere, he "speaks the
truth smiling" He gives striking il
lustration of the vanities of testators
and the yearning for rostumous glo-
rifcation, in the attempt of the dead
hand to hold on after the spirit has
[ left its temporal abode.
One of the strangest efforts to OBJ
tain posthumous remembrance is a