Year: 1878

IN 1862, John &c, Esq, of Surrey,
i died, leaving will containing this
clause:


Whereas, it was my misfortune to
be made very uneasy by -, my wife,
for many years from our marriage, by
her turbulent behavior; for she was not
content with despising my admonition,
but she contrived every method to make
me unhappy; she was SO perverse to her
nature that she would not be reclaimed,
but seemed only to be born to be plague
to me; the strength of Sampson, the
knowledge of Homer, the prudence of
Augustus, the cunning of Pyrrhus, the
patience of Job, the subtlety of Hanni-
bal,and the watchfulness of Hermogenes
could not have been sufficient to subdue
her; for no skill or force in the world
would make her good; and as we had
lived separate and apart from each other
eight years, and she having perverted
her son to leave and totally abandon me,
therefore give her one shilling only"


To be furnished with such character
and then cut off with shilling,is really
too cruel. 1t is not wives alone who
suffer, as will be seen from the next ex-
tract, but sisters both married and single
receive their share of reproach and sar-
casm. In this will of Mr.. Dunlop's,
however, there is some compensation for
the wounds inflicted. He was of Scotch
origin, and member of Congress. His
will contained this amusing clause:


II leave my property of Gairbread
and all the property may be possessed
of to my sisters - and -; the
former because she is married to min
lister whom-may God help him = she
hen-pecks; the latter because she is
married to nobody, nor is she likely to
be, for she is an old maid, and not mar
ket rife.......I leave my silver tankard to
the eldest son of old John, as the repre-
sentative of the family. 1 would have
left it to old John himself, but he would
havemelted it down to make temperance
medals, and that would have been
sacrilege. However, l leave him my big
horn snuffbo he can only make tenn
perance spoons out of that......I leave
my brother-in-law Allan my punch
bowl, as he is big, gaunchy man, and
likely to do credit to It'll leave to Par
son Chevassie my big silver snuff-boX,as
a small token of gratitude to him for
taking my sister Maggie, whom no man
of taste would have taken......I leave to
John Caddell silver teapot, to the end
that he may drink tea therefrom to COM
fort him under the affiiction of a slat-
ternly wife.....I leave my silver cup,
with the sovereign in the bottom of it,
to my sister -, because she is an old
maid and pious, and therefore necessari-
ly given to boarding; and also my
grandmother's snuff-box, as it looks
decent to see an old maid taking snuff"


Fifty years ago an Englishman left a
will containing the following provisos


81 bequeath to my monkey, my dear
and amusing Jacko, the sum of e10
sterling per annum, to be employed for
his sole and exclusive use and benefit;
to my faithful dog Shock and my we'll
beloved cat Tip a pension of e5 sterling
and desire that, in case of the death of
either of the three, the lapsed pension
shall pass to the other two, between
whom 1t is to be equally divided. On the
death of all three, the sum appropri-
ated to this purpose shall become the
property of my daughter Gertrude, to
whom give this preference among my
children because of the large family she
has,and the difficulty she finds in bring
ing them up"


II must have been exceedingly fiatter-
ing to the daughter to have ranked
fourth in her fathers affections-first q
monkey, then dog, then cat, then
herself; after all, she outranked the
other children, but only because of her
numerous progeny.