“I, Dediderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, honoured with the flattering diplomas of the Emperor, the Sovereign Pontiff, and renowned magistrate of the celebrated city of Bâle, declare that this act, written in my own hand, contains my last wishes; and I desire that they may be ratified and confirmed in every particular, annulling all previous dispositions that I may have made.

“Certain as I am that I have no legitimate heir (Erasmus was a natural son, and was never married), I appoint as my universal heir, the very honourable Boniface Amerbach; and I name as my testamentary executors Jerôme Froben and Nicholas Biscop, brother-in-law of Froben.

“I have already sold my library to Jean de Lasco, a Pole, as may be seen by an act passed between us, and signed by both; but my books are only to be delivered to him when he shall have handed over two hundred florins to my heir; and in case he should have destroyed the act above named, or should die before me, my heir is at liberty to dispose of my books as he may please.

“I bequeath and give to Louis Ber my gold watch; to Beatus Rhenanus a golden spoon, and a fork of the same metal; to Pietro Veteri one hundred and fifty gold crowns; to Philip Montanus the same sum; to my servant Lambert—should he still be in my service at the time of my death—two hundred gold florins, unless I should give them to him during my life; to Jehan de Brisgaw my scent-bottle of silver; to Paul Voltzius one hundred gold florins; to Sigismund Gelenius five hundred ducats; to Jehan Erasmus Froben, two rings, of which one has no stone, the other a green (?) stone called by the French turquoise.

“I bequeath and give to Jerôme Froben all my garments and all my furniture; i.e. all that composes it, whether in woollen or linen for the former, in wood or other material for the latter. I give him besides, my goblet marked with the arms of the Cardinal de Mayence. I give to his wife my ring, bearing the effigy of a woman looking behind her.

“I give to Nicholas Biscop, my cup with its cover, on the foot of which there are verses engraved; and to Justine, his wife, two gold rings of which one has a diamond, the other a small turquoise. I give to Conrad Goclenius my silver cup, surmounted by a figure of Fortune. If one of my legatees should come to die, I leave the legacy thus lapsed at the disposition of my heir.

“My said heir is to have, besides the objects already devised to him, all that shall remain of my tazzas, rings, and other similar articles, including the medals bearing the effigy of the King of Poland, Severin Boner, etc.; and all the double and quadruple ducats. He is to have the money I have deposited with Conrad Goclenius that he may dispose of it in Brabant, as I have recommended to him. If there should be anything of mine still remaining with Erasmus Schet, he is to demand it of him. He will employ this money and any other sums remaining over, according to the advice of the executors, in distributing alms to the poor, whom age or infirmity has rendered impotent, also for marrying young girls or assisting young people, who may show an industrious disposition, to start in the world.

“Such is the act of my last will, written by own proper hand, and sealed with my own private seal belonging to my ring, and representing the god Terminus. Let all faith be accorded to it. Given at Bale, in the house of Jerôme Froben, 12th February, 1536.”

Will of Katherine of Aragon
(1536)

“In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. I, Katherine, &c. supplicate and desire King Henry VIII. my good Lord, that it please him of his grace, and in alms, and for the service of God, to let me have the goods which I do hold, as well in gold and silver as other things, and also the same that is due to me in money for the time passed, to the intent that I may pay my debts and recompense my servants for the good service they have done unto me, and the same I desire as effectuously as I may, for the necessity wherein I am ready to die and to yield my soul unto God.

“First, I supplicate that my body be buried in a Convent of Observant Friars. Item, that for my soul may be said c masses. Item, that some personage go to our Lady of Walsingham, in pilgrimage, and in going by the way dole xx nobles. Item, I appoint to Mistress Darell xx £ for her marriage. Item, I ordain that the collar of gold which I brought out of Spain be to my daughter. I ordain to Mistress Blanche x £ sterling. Item, I ordain to Mistress Margery, and to Mistress Whiller, to each of them x £ sterling. Item, I ordain to Mistress Mary, my physician’s wife, and to Mistress Isabel, daughter of Mistress Margery, to each of them xl £ sterling. Item, I ordain to my physician the year’s coming wages. Item, I ordain to Francisco Philippe all that I owe unto him, and besides that xl £ sterling. Item, I ordain to Mr. John, mine apothecary, his wages for the year coming, and besides that all that is due unto him. Item, I ordain that Mr. Whiller be paid of expense about the making of my gown, and besides that of xx £ sterling. Item, I give to Philip, to Anthony, and to Bastian, to every of them xx £ sterling. Item, I ordain to the little maidens x £ to every of them. Item, I ordain that my goldsmith be paid of his wages for the year coming, and besides all that is due to him hitherto. Item, I ordain that my launderer be paid of that is due unto her, and besides that of her wages for the year coming. Item, I ordain to the Sabell of Vergas xx £ sterling. Item, to my ghostly father his wages for the year coming. Item, it may please the King my good Lord, that the house ornaments of the church to be made of my gowns, which he holdeth, for to serve the convent thereat I shall be buried. And the furs of the same I give for my daughter.”

Katherine was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. She was born about 1483 and died in 1536. On November 14, 1501, she was married to Arthur, Prince of Wales, then about fifteen years of age, the eldest son of King Henry VII., who died about five months later. The King, unwilling to return her dowry, forced her to marry his remaining son, Henry, who was created Prince of Wales, February 18, 1503, succeeding to the throne as Henry VIII. on April 21st, 1509. On the 24th of June in the same year, they were crowned at Westminster. Her only child, Mary, was born on February 15, 1518, and succeeded her half-brother, King Edward VI., as Queen of England July 6, 1553. The history of this unfortunate, but worthy queen, is too well known to need further comment.

Will of Sir William Pelham, Knt.
(1538)

“In the name of God. Amen. 26th Oct., the yeare of our Lord God a thousande fyve hundred thirty and eight. I, William Pelham, Knt., in the countie of Sussex, being hole in mynde and of good memory, doth make and ordeign my last will and testament in manner and fourme followinge:

“First: I bequeth my soule to Almighty God my Creator, and to all the Company of Hevyn; and my body to be buried in the Chauncel of Laughton.

“Item: I bequeth vi. l. xiii s. ii d. for twenty sermons to be preached in Laughton, and in the parishes thereabouts.

“Item: I will that my three sonnes, William, Francis, and Edwarde, shall have twenty poundes sterlinge by the yere during their lvyes, owte of my lands, to be divided equally between them into three parts, and my wyffe to have the same, twenty poundes, every yere during the tyme of their nonage, towards their fyndinge, forthwith after my deth.

“Item: I bequeth a thousande marks sterlinge to be levyed upon my woods, to the marriage of my fyve daughters, that is to say: Bryget, Margaret, Mary, Anne, and Jane, and to be equally between them.

“Item: I bequeth to John Devynyshe, my best geldinge.

“The residue of all my goodes, debts, stuffe, and substance, I geve unto Mary my wyffe, whom I make myn executrix of this my last will.

“These being witnesses, Mary my wiffe, Nicholas my sonne and his wyffe, John Devynyshe, gentilman, Sir Robert Fourde Preest, with many other.”

Will of Martin Luther
(1542)

There seems to be considerable obscurity about the authenticity of this document. The learned Dutchman, M. Van Proet (who gives as his authority the Dutch translation of the “History of the Reformation”), says that “the will of Luther is to be found in its entirety in the eighth volume of the works of Luther (Altenburg edition); that the original, on parchment, was formerly in the hands of Carpzovius, and that that original, signed by Melancthon, Crucigerus, and Bugenhagenius (or Pomeranus) differed in some places from the printed copy.”

Seckendorff of Bâle, in his Commentary, lib. iii. sects. 36 and 135, p. 651, speaks thus of it, and it will be seen that Luther does not err on the side of modesty:

“De Testamento Lutheri.—Testatus est, ut exemplar, tom. viii. Altenb. fol. 846, relatum ostendit, anno 1542, die Euphemiæ (16 Septembris), uxoris potissimum gratiâ, cui testamentum perhibet probitatis, fidelitatis et honestatis, et quòd ab eâ semper amatus et omnibus officiis cultus sit; nec fecunditatem tacet, quòd quinque liberos tum viventes ediderit. (Observatum est ex litteris Pontani post mortem Lutheri ad electorum scriptis, quòd uxor Lutheri animum paulò elatiorem et imperiosum habuisse visa sit, et quòd tenax in victu domestico sumptuosa tamen fuerit in ædificia, imprimis in prædium illud Zeüsldorff quod ei in hâc dispositione suâ dotali nomine Lutherus assignaverat. Sed tolerabiles illi nævi fuerunt, nec ab omnibus immunem eam judicavit ipse Lutherus, licèt eam tenere amaret....) Non tam conditionem adjecit iis quæ uxori destinaverat, quàm fiduciam testatus est: quòd uxor, si ad secunda vota transiret (id quod ipsius voluntati et divinæ providentiæ prorsus committit), omnia cum liberis divisura sit. Liberos verò mavult à matre quàm hanc ab illis dependere, exemplis se territum dicens, quàm iniquè sæpè liberi tractent. Denique omissâ omni solemnitate legali confidere se ait, majorem fidem se mereri quàm notarium quemque.

“Notus sum,” inquit “in cœlo, in terrâ, et in inferno, et auctoritatem ad hoc sufficientem habeo ut mihi solo credatur, cùm Deus mihi homini licèt damnabili et misera peccatori, ex paternâ misericordiâ Evangelium filii sui crediderit, dederitque ut in eo verax et fidelis fuerim, ita ut multi in mundo illud per me acceperint, et me pro doctore veritatis agnoverint, spreto banno papæ, Cæsaris, regum, principum et sacerdotum, imo omnium dæmonium odio: Quidni igitur ad dispositionem hanc in re exiguâ sufficiat, si adsit manus meæ testimonium et dici possit, hæc scripsit D. Martinus Lutherus, notarius Dei et testis Evangelii ejus.

“Additae tamen sunt subscriptiones Melancthonis, Crucigeri et Pomerani, sed alio tempore.

“Elector vero Saxoniæ rogatus à vidua diplomate domino judica hoc anno (10 April) dato, testamentum Lutheri conservavit, jubens ut illud etsi solemnitates à legibus requisitæ abessent validum haberetur et observaretur....”

Our readers will doubtless remember that this curious and characteristic fragment has been quoted by Robertson, in a note to his history of Charles Quint, vol. v.

Some time ago the Evangelical Church in Hungary believed itself possessed of the original last will and testament of the great Protestant reformer, Martin Luther. The genuineness of the document was, in fact, attested as undoubted by a special commission appointed to determine that question. The members of this body, however, did not consist of historical scholars, but chiefly of noted members of Parliament. Accordingly, before long it was shown, upon the evidence of Professor Rancke’s researches, that the only real testament of Luther—that written with his own hand—is, as a matter of fact, in the Heidelberg Library, and is there kept in a glass case for the inspection of visitors. It has also been satisfactorily proved that the will in the possession of the Hungarian Evangelicals, though written in a hand exactly like Luther’s, is not his, but the work of one of his disciples, Henterus, who introduced the reformation into Transylvania; he made a true copy, even to the very handwriting, of the last will and testament of his master.

Will of Hans Holbein
(1543)

Hans Holbein, the younger, belonged to a celebrated family of German painters. His great paintings are scattered throughout the galleries of the world; his last years were spent in England, where he gained both success and fame. He died in London, of the plague, in 1543. His will, written shortly before his death, was found in the archives of St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1861 and bears evidence of having been written in haste, as it probably was.

It reads as follows:

“In the name of God the Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghoste, I, Johan Holbeine, servante of the King’s Majistie, make this my testamente and will, to wyt, that alle my goodes shall be sold, and also my horse; and I will that my debtes be payd to wyt: furste to Mr. Anthony the kynges servant of Greenwiche, ye summe of ten poundes thirtien shyllinges and sewyne pence sterlinge.

“And, moreover, I will that he shal be contented for all other thynges between him and me.

“Item: I do owe unto Mr. John of Anwarpe, Goldsmythe, saxe pounds sterling, which I will alsoe shalle be payde unto hyme with the fyrste.

“Item: I bequeathe for the kypyng of my two chylder, which be atte nurse, for every monthe, seyvene shellinges, and sexpence styrlynge.

“In wytnes I have sealed and sealed thys my testamente, thys sexthe daye of October, in the yeare of our Lorde MIVCXLIIJ.

“Wytnes, Anthony Snetcher, Armerer, Mr. John of Anwarpe, aforesaid, Goldsmythe, Obrycke Obynger, Merchante and Harry Maynaert, Paynter.”

Will of King Henry VIII
(1547)

The greatest testamentary powers ever conferred on an English king were given to Henry VIII. by 25 Henry VIII. c. 7, empowering him to limit and appoint the succession to the Crown by will, in default of children by Jane Seymour.

This will of Henry VIII. is to be found in full in Nicolas’s “Testamenta Vetusta,” a collection of famous wills, a work of great excellence, prepared in 1825. There are also to be found the Wills of Henry II., Henry III., Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI., and Henry VII., as are those of other Kings and Queens of England.

Will of Rabelais
(1553)

The will of this ingenious satirist is adorned (or disfigured) by a very characteristic clause: “I have no available property, I owe a great deal; the rest I give to the poor.”

We cannot affirm that this bull, worthy of an Irishman, is well authenticated, any more than Rabelais’s facetious reply to the messenger of Cardinal du Belay, whom he sent to see how he fared in his last illness: “Je vais chercher un grand peutêtre; tirez le rideau, la farce est jouée.”

Will of Mary Queen of Scots
(1587)

Mary Stuart was beheaded in 1587. Her will is to be found in a collection entitled: “Pièces fugitives pour servir à l’Histoire de France, avec des notes historiques, par M. le Baron d’Aubais,” 1759. This work is in 5 vols. 4to, and the will is in the second.

It is prefaced by a short note explanatory of the attendant circumstances, viz. that it was written by the ill-fated queen on the eve of her execution, and after she had been curtly, unceremoniously, and unexpectedly informed it was to take place at eight the following morning. The writing out of this, and of an extremely touching letter to her brother-in-law, Henri III., occupied her until two o’clock in the morning, when she bathed, selected and put on her costliest dress, head-dress, and costume, distributed her little store of ready money and jewels to her attendants, retired to her oratory and prepared herself for death. All this is minutely related, also the manner of her death; for to the last moment the queen was unaware whether she were to be beheaded standing or with her head on the block. It was, however, to be by the latter mode; and the headsman proved so inexperienced, and his weapon so clumsy, that the operation was only completed after three blows.

Mary’s will is written in French, and is word for word as follows:

“Au nom du Père, du Fils, et du Sainct Esprit:

“Je, Marie, par la grâce de Dieu royne d’Ecosse, douarière de France etc.: Estant preste à mourir, et n’ayant moyen de faire mon testament, j’ay mis ces articles par escrit, lesquels j’entens et veulx avoir meme force que si ilz étaient mis en forme.

“Protestant, premier de mourir en la foi chatolique apostolique romaine.

“Premier, je veulx qui’il soit faict un service complet pour mon ame a l’église Sainct Denys en France, et l’autre a Sainct Pierre de Reims, où tous mes serviteurs ce trouveront en la manière qu’il sera ordonné a ceulx a qui j’en donne la charge issi dessouts nommez.

“Plus, qu’un obit annuel soit fondé pour prier pour mon ame à perpetuité, à lieu et en la maniere qui sera advisé le plus commode.

“Pour a quoy fournir je veulx que mes maysons de Fontayne-beleau soient vendues, esperant que au surplus le roy m’aydera, comme par mon memoyre je le requiers.

“Je veulx que ma terre de Jespagn demeure a mon cousin de Guise pour une de ses filles, si elle venoit a estre mariée en ces quartiers; je quitteray la moitié des arerages qui me sont deus, ou une partie, a condition que l’autre soit payée, pour estre par mes executeurs employée en aumosne annuelle.

“Pour a quoi mieulx provoir, les papiers seront recherchez et delivrez selon l’affination pour en faire poursuite.

“Je veulx aussi que l’argens que ce retirera de mon procès de secondat, soit distribué comme s’en suit.

“Premier, a la descharge du poiement de mes dettes et mandemens si aprez nommez, qui me seront ja paiez, premier, les deux mille esqus de Courle que je veulx luy estre payez sans nulle contradiction, comme estantz en faveur de mariage sans que nous au aultre luy en puisse rien demander, quelque obligation qu’il en aye d’autant qu’elle n’est que feincte é que l’argent estoit à moy é non emprunté, lequel je ne fis que luy montray, é lé depuis retiré, et me on pris avecque le reste à Chasteley, lequel je lui donne si il le peut recovrer, comme il a esté promis pour payement ces quatre mille franks promis, pour payement ces quatre mille franks promis par mort, et mille pour marier une siene sœur, et m’ayant demandé le reste pour ses despans en prison; quant a l’assignation de pareille somme a nous, elle n’est pas d’obligation, et pour ce a toujours esté mon intention que elle fust la dernière payée et encore en cas qu’il fasse aparoir n’avoir faict contre la condition pour la quelle je les luy avoist donnéz au temoignasge de mes serviteurs.

“Pour la partie de douze cens esquus que il m’a faict alleuer par lui empruntée pour mon service de Beauregard, jusques à six sens esqus et de Gervays trois cents, et le reste je ne sais d’ou, it faut qu’il les repoye de son argent et que j’en soyes quitte é l’assignation cassée, car je n’en ay rien resceu, mais est le fond en ces coffres, si ce n’estoit que ils en soient payez par dela; comme que ce soit; it faut que cett partie me revienne bonne, n’ayant rien receu, et si elle estoit payée je doits avoir recours sur son lieu, é de plus, je veulx que Pasquier compte les deniers que il a despandus é receus par le commandement de nous, par les mains des serviteurs de M. de Chasteauneuf, l’ambassadeur de France.

“Plus, je veulx que mes comptes soyent ouys é mon tresorier payé.

“Plus, que les gages et parties de mes gens tant de l’année passée que de la presente, soyent tous payez avant toute autre choze, tant gages que pensions, parmis les pensions les pensions de Jean et de Courle, jusques a ce que l’on sasche ce qui en doit advenir et ce qu’ils auront meritez de moy pour pensions si ce n’est que la fame de Courle soyt en nécessité, ou luy maltraicté pour moy; des gages de Jean de mesme.

“Je veulx que les deux mille quatre cens franks que j’ay donnais a Jène Kenedi luy soyent payez en argent, comme il estoit porté en son premier don, é quoy fesant la pension de Willi Guillaulme Douglas me reviendra, laquelle je donne a Fontenoy pour ces services é despens non recompansez.

“Je veulx que les quatre mille esqus de ce banquier soyent sollisitez é repayez, duquel j’ay oublié le nom; mais l’evesque de Glascou s’en resoviendra assez; é si l’assignation premiére venoit à manquer, je veulx qu’il leur en soyt donné une sur les premiers deniers de secondat.

“Les dix mille franks que l’ambassadeur avoyt receux pour moy, je veulx qu’ilz soyent employez entre mes serviteurs qui s’en vont à present à scavoir, premier, deux mille franks à Elizabeth Courle; deux mille franks à Basten Pages; deux mille à Marie Pages, ma filleule; mille à Gourgon; mille à Gervays.

“Plus, sur les aultres deniers de mon revenu, à Beauregard, mille franks; à Monthay mille franks.

“E reste de Secondat et de toutes mes casualitez, je veulx estre employez sinq cens franks à la misericorde des enfans de Reims; à mes escoliers, deux mille franks; aux quatre mandians, la somme qu’il sera nécessaire; à mes executeurs, selon les moyens qui ce trouveront, sinq cens franks aux hospitaulx.

“A l’esquier de cuisine Martin, je donne mille franks; mille franks à Hambel, e le laisse à mon cousin de Guise, son parein, a le mettre en quelque lieu en son service.

“Je laysse sinq cens franks à Robin Hamilton et prie mon filz le prendre, é Monsieur de Glascou faulte de luy, ou l’evesque de Rosse.

“Je laysse à Didier son grefe sous la faveur du roy.

“Je donne sinq cens franks à Jean Landere, é prie mon cousin de Guise ou d’Humaine (pour du Maine) le prendre en leur service, é a Messieurs de Glascou et de Rosse qu’ils ayent soing de le voir preveu; je veulx que son père soyt payé de ces gages, et luy laysse sinq cens franks.

“Je veulx que mille franks soyent payez à Gourgeon, pour argent et aultres chozes qu’ils m’a fournies en ma nécessité.

“E je veulx que si Bourgoin accompli le voiage du vœu qu’il a faict pour moy à S. Nicolas, que quinze franks lui soyent livrés à cet effet. Je laysse selon mon peu de moyen six mille franks à l’evesque de Glascou, troys mille à celuy de Rosse. E je laysse la donaison des alsualities et droicts seigneriaux recelez à mon filleul, filz de M. Duruisseau.

“Je donne troys cens franks à Laurents, plus troys cens franks à Suzanne, é laysse dix mille franks entre les quatre parties, qui out esté respondant pour moy é au solliciteur parmy.

“Je veulx que l’argent provenant des meubles que j’ay ordonnez estre vendus à Londres soyt pour defroyer le voyage de mes gens jusques en France.

“Ma cosche je la laysse pour mener mes filles, é les chevaulx pour les vendre ou aultrement en faire leur commoditez.

“Il y a environ cent esqus des gages des années passées deus à Bourgoin, que je veulx luy estre payez.

“Je laysse deux mille franks à Meluin, mon maystre d’hostel.

“Je ordonne pour principal exécuteur de ma volonté mon cousin le Duc de Guise, é aprez luy l’Archevesque de Glascou, l’evesque de Rosse, et M. Duruisseau, mon chancelier.

“J’entends que sans faulte le preau jouisse de ces deux prependes.

“Je recommande Marie Pages, ma filleule, à ma cousine Madame de Guise, é la prie de prendre en son service; é ma tante de S. Pierre fayre mettre Montbraye en quelque bon lieu, ou la retenir en service pour l’honneur de Dieu.

“Faict ce jourd’hui 7 Feubrier, mil sinq cens octante é sept.

“Marie R.”

Will of Alessandro Tassoni
(1635)

Tassoni was an Italian diplomat, poet and critic; he was born at Modena in 1565 of an old patrician family. His greatest work was the publication, “The Stolen Bucket.” The following are excerpts from his will:

“I leave my soul—the most precious thing I possess—to its first great cause, the invisible, ineffable, eternal.

“As for my body, destined as it is to corruption, my own desire would have been that it should be burned; but that being contrary to the custom of the religion in which I was born, I beg those in whose house I should die—for I have none of my own—to bury me by preference in consecrated ground; or if I should be found dead, without any other roof over me than the vault of heaven, I entreat the charitable neighbors or passers-by to render me this last service.

“My wish would be that my funeral should only employ one priest, that there should be simply the small cross and a single candle, and that as regards expense no more shall be incurred than will pay for a sack to stuff my remains into, and a porter to carry it.

“I give twelve gold crowns to the parish, because I cannot carry them away.”

CHAPTER III

WILLS IN FICTION AND POETRY

“The art of will-making chiefly consists in baffling the importunity of expectation. I do not so much find fault with this when it is done as a punishment and oblique satire on servility and selfishness. It is in that case Diamond cut Diamond—a trial of skill between the legacy-hunter and the legacy-maker, which shall fool the other. The cringing toad-eater, the officious tale-bearer, is perhaps well paid for years of obsequious attendance with a bare mention and a mourning-ring; nor can I think that Gil Blas’ library was not quite as much as the coxcombry of his pretensions deserved. There are some admirable scenes in Ben Jonson’s ‘Volpone,’ shewing the humours of a legacy-hunter, and the different ways of fobbing him off with excuses and assurances of not being forgotten. Yet it is hardly right after all, to encourage this kind of pitiful, bare-faced intercourse, without meaning to pay for it; as the coquette has no right to jilt the lovers she has trifled with. Flattery and submission are marketable commodities like any other, have their price, and ought scarcely to be obtained under false pretences. If we see through and despise the wretched creature that attempts to impose on our credulity, we can at any time dispense with his services; if we are soothed by this mockery of respect and friendship, why not pay him like any other drudge, or as we satisfy the actor who performs a part in a play by our particular desire? But often these premeditated disappointments are as unjust as they are cruel, and are marked with circumstances of indignity, in proportion to the worth of the object. The suspecting, the taking it for granted that your name is down in the will, is sufficient provocation to have it struck out; the hinting at an obligation, the consciousness of it on the part of the testator, will make him determined to avoid the formal acknowledgment of it, at any expense. The disinheriting of relations is mostly for venial offences, not for base actions: we punish out of pique, to revenge some case in which we have been disappointed of our wills, some act of disobedience to what had no reasonable ground to go upon; and we are obstinate in adhering to our resolution, as it was sudden and rash, and doubly bent on asserting our authority in what we have least right to interfere in. It is the wound inflicted upon our self-love, not the stain upon the character of the thoughtless offender, that calls for condign punishment. Crimes, vices may go unchecked, or unnoticed: but it is the laughing at our weaknesses, or thwarting our humours, that is never to be forgotten. It is not the errors of others, but our own miscalculations, on which we wreak our lasting vengeance. It is ourselves that we cannot forgive.”

*******

“An old man is twice a child: the dying man becomes the property of his family. He has no choice left, and his voluntary power is merged in old saws and prescriptive usages. The property we have derived from our kindred reverts tacitly to them: and not to let it take its course, is a sort of violence done to nature as well as custom. The idea of property, of something in common, does not mix cordially with friendship, but is inseparable from near relationship. We owe a return in kind, where we feel no obligation for a favour; and consign our possessions to our next of kin as mechanically as we lean our heads on the pillow, and go out of the world in the same state of stupid amazement that we came into it!... Cetera desunt.”

Human nature is ever the same: William Hazlitt wrote the above lines one hundred years ago, and yet as we read them, there appears an emphasized truth in the sentiment contained in a verse from “Mortality,” a composition by William Knox, which was the favorite poem of Abraham Lincoln:

It is said of Hazlitt that his domestic life was infelicitous; that he had a temperament which was erratic and self-tormenting and estranged him from his friends, even for a time from Charles Lamb. He died on September 18, 1830, with Lamb at his bedside, and though disappointed and harassed by anxiety and suffering as he had been, yet his last words were: “I’ve had a happy life.” How many of us would have said as much!

Wills of the Novelist

The Green Bag says:

“Where would the novelist of the period be without the disinheriting will, the manipulated will, the secreted will, and all kinds of wills in every style of obliteration and in every stage of destruction? Why, he would be nearly as bereft of staple stock in trade as if he had lost the lovelorn maiden, the tender-hearted soldier, or the grand old hall of our ancestors. Even writers of a higher grade find it convenient to make use of such machinery to help make the story go.”

Old Noirtier’s Will

Romancers and writers of fiction have taken much interest in, and considerable liberty with, wills; for instance, old Noirtier, a character in the “Count of Monte Cristo,” the great novel by Dumas, wrote his will. He was paralyzed, and his only means of communication was by the eye: to shut the eye, meant “yes”: to wink the eye, meant “no.” His granddaughter had no trouble when the notaries appeared in convincing them that her grandparent knew exactly what he was doing; so, in spite of opposition and in the presence of seven witnesses, the will was executed; and as no signature was required under the French law, the act was legally accomplished.

Dr. Jekyll’s Will

Then there was the famous will in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”: the very worthy lawyer, Mr. Utterson, who was “lean, long, dusty, dreary and, somehow, lovable,” refused to write this will, wherein Dr. Jekyll left his possessions to his friend and benefactor, Edward Hyde. Mr. Hyde was also to be the possessor of this property if Dr. Jekyll should disappear for a period exceeding three calendar months, the same to be free from burden or obligation, beyond the payment of a few small sums to members of the Doctor’s household.

The Will of Lord Monmouth

In “Coningsby,” by Disraeli, the reading of Lord Monmouth’s will is a feature. The document is lengthy, and numerous codicils have been added from time to time, involving many modifications. The last codicil of all, however, was the most startling, for under it all former dispositions were upset.

Mr. Casaubon’s Will

In George Eliot’s “Middlemarch,” we find the will of Mr. Casaubon. This gentleman had married a girl, Dorothea Brooke, who was very much younger than himself. By his will, he very properly gave her all his property. However, on reflection, and for reasons best known to himself, he added a codicil and placed the legacy given to his wife, upon the condition that she did not marry one Ladislaw.

It would further appear that until the reading of this codicil, it had not occurred to Dorothea that Ladislaw might be a possible lover; but he became one, and the very suggestion of the testator caused the defeat of the latter’s wishes.

Anthony Trollope’s “Orley Farm”

Our author tells us of a forgery of a codicil by the second wife of the testator: a son by a first wife is cut off, and the farm is left to a son by the second wife. This codicil is in the handwriting of the widow, witnessed by an attorney whose daughter received a handsome legacy, the other witnesses being a clerk and a maidservant. The widow swears that the codicil was drawn at the attorney’s dictation, in the husband’s hearing, and that she was present when it was signed by all the parties. The witnesses gave evidence as to the due execution of the codicil. The instrument was admitted to probate. It developed, however, that there was another paper, a dissolution of partnership, signed on the same day by the same witnesses. The result was, that the charming widow was found guilty of perjury.

Mr. Meeson’s Will

The following description of this famous will is taken from the Green Bag:

“In ‘Mr. Meeson’s Will,’ Rider Haggard tells of a fiendish publisher and a lone island and a tattooed will. It is the particular delight of this issuer of books, though he largely sends forth works of a religious cast, to crush all the originality out of his authors and turn them into literary hacks, so that they may become dreary drudges in his vast establishment, sinking even their names in numbers, and losing every atom of individuality and every symptom of spirit. He makes a shamelessly cruel contract with the heroine, who writes novels; and the hero, his nephew, protests and is driven out of the concern. But he is driven into love with the reciprocating maker of manuscript. Then the heroine embarks for distant lands; and it happens, to the great good fortune of the inventor of the story, that the publisher sails on board the same vessel. The vessel is wrecked and these two are cast on a desert island, where they manage to get along after the style of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ with variations. But the publisher, upset in body and mind by these experiences, dies, pursued by ghastly visions of the suffering authors he has driven to desperation.

“Yet these very visions make him see the error of his ways, and prompt him to do justice. It is plain to him that he must set all things right by making a will in favor of the nephew whom he had disinherited. But how to carry out the plan on this spot is the question. At last a happy thought strikes the lady. The will shall be tattoed across her shoulders, and this is done, though she endures no end of agony, and faints away when the job is over.

“Of course she is rescued by a passing vessel, rejoins her lover, and seeks to establish his rights. For this purpose the will must be probated, and the law requires the original will to be filed in the office. But the Registrar, touched by ‘Beauty in distress,’ allows a photograph of the will to be filed. The will is contested by the other heirs, but after an exciting trial, described at length in the story, victory perches on the shoulders of the lady.

“This is the real climax of the story, but we are carried on through the ringing of the marriage bells, to learn that they lived happy ever after.”

His Request Disregarded

Horace Walpole writes that a certain testator who was apprehensive that his will would not be upheld, prefaced that document with these words:

“In the name of God, Amen! I am of sound mind. This is my last will and testament, and I desire the courts not to trouble themselves to make another for me.”

His request seems not to have been taken in his favor, for the courts did make another will for him.

In ancient Greece, it was quite usual to introduce into wills the most formidable imprecations on those who should attempt to violate the wishes of the testator; in modern times pecuniary penalties, instead of curses, are more in favor with distrustful will-makers.

Jerome on Wills

Mr. Jerome K. Jerome, after months of study, inspired by a determination to get to the bottom of Stage law, mentions among the few points on which he is at all clear, the following:

That if a man dies without leaving a will, then all his property goes to the nearest villain.

But that if a man dies and leaves a will, then all his property goes to whoever can get possession of that will.

Must not Remarry

“Iris,” in one of Pinero’s plays of the same name, is a beautiful young widow of twenty-one. She finds herself much hampered by the terms of her husband’s will, which deprives her of its benefits if she remarries. Such a provision is in law perfectly legal and its use much indulged in by dying husbands, but whether wisely or justly is a matter of serious doubt.

“The Thunderbolt”

Pinero’s latest play, “The Thunderbolt,” is a study of the manners and respectability of the middle-class of England. The play was not received with favor in London, but has been granted a hearing by the “New Theatre” of New York, and by competent judges is said to be the masterpiece of its author.

The play is based on a stolen will: the first act shows a family gathered around the bier of Edward Mortimore, who had accumulated wealth in the brewing of beer, which, during his life, was regarded by his family as rather a disreputable business. There is absent from the gathering, only one interested person, and that is an illegitimate daughter, Helen Thornhill, who is an art student in Paris. Helen arrives and is much surprised that her father has not remembered her, for the announcement is made that he left no will; and she wishes that “every ill that’s conceivable” should come upon the heads of those who will inherit. It quickly develops, however, that the father did leave a will, in these words:

“I leave everything I die possessed of to Helen Thornhill, spinster, absolutely, and she is to be my sole executrix.”

A confession discloses the fact that the will has been destroyed by Phyllis, wife of Thaddeus, a brother of the testator. Helen refuses to bring disgrace on the family by a prosecution, and a compromise is effected, by which she receives a substantial portion of the estate.

Dickens a Will-maker

Dickens was a great will-maker. We know that if Dick Swiveller had been a steadier youth he would have inherited more than one hundred and fifty pounds a year from his Aunt Rebecca. The loyal-hearted lover, Mr. Barkis, made Peggotty his residuary legatee. The litigation in Jarndyce v. Jarndyce arose out of a disputed will. The various wills left by old Harmon in “Our Mutual Friend” bring about no end of complications, there being at least three wills in existence at one time, and each one believed by the person discovering it to be the final will.

Mr. George W. E. Russell says that perhaps Dickens’s best piece of will-making is given in the case of Mr. Spenlow, who, being a practitioner in Doctors’ Commons, spoke about his own will with “a serenity, a tranquillity, a calm sunset air” which quite affected David Copperfield; and then shattered all poor David’s hopes by dying intestate.

Perplexities of Poor Cecilia

All the perplexities and distresses of poor Cecilia, in Frances Burney’s “Memoirs of an Heiress,” grew out of a clause in her uncle’s will, imposing the condition that if she married, her husband should take her family name of Beverly. Poor Cecilia! What doubts and difficulties beset her by reason of this unfortunate provision; and too, it gives the authoress an excellent opportunity to harrow up the reader on account of these delicate uncertainties and distresses.

Olivia’s Will

It was suggested to Olivia in “Twelfth Night,” that her graces would go to the grave and no copy be held; she responds:

“O, Sir, I will not be so hard hearted; I will give out divers schedules of my beauty; It shall be inventoried, and every particle and utensil labelled to my will; as, item, two lips indifferent red; item, two gray eyes with lids to them; item, one neck, one chin, and so forth.”

Portia and Nerissa

In the “Merchant of Venice” Portia is much concerned over the will of her father with reference to the caskets:

“Portia. But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a husband.—O me! the word choose! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.—Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none?

“Nerissa. Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men at their death have good inspirations; therefore, the lottery, that he hath devised in these three chests of gold, silver, and lead (whereof who chooses his meaning, chooses you) will, no doubt, never be chosen by any rightly, but one whom you shall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely suitors that are already come?”

Will of Nicholas Gimcrack

The will of Nicholas Gimcrack, Esq., is a curious document, and reflects the mind of the worthy virtuoso, and in it his various follies, littlenesses and quaint humors are contained in an orderly and distinct fashion. This will appears in the Tatler, Vol. IV, No. 216, and is here written, minus certain parts which are of no great concern:

“THE WILL OF A VIRTUOSO

“I Nicholas Gimcrack, being in sound Health of Mind, but in great Weakness of Body, do by this my Last Will and Testament bequeath my worldly Goods and Chattels in Manner follows: