LORD ST LEONARDS’ WILL.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 293, 20 May 1875, Page 3

LORD ST LEONARDS’ WILL.

A reward of £SOO has just been offered for the recovery of. the will of the late Lord St Leonards, It is stated to have been written on five or six sheets of old quarto white letter paper in the handwriting of his lordship, Vanity Fair is responsible for the following :—“ lam all the more sujn’ised to find that I am still the only man who believes in an avenging Providence, when I notice how often it finds us out. Lord St Leonards has just died, a comforting example of this. One of the finest lawyers that ever lived (for the name of Sugden was one to conjure with), his greatest and most cherished principle was the duty of every man to make a will. He even went beyond this, and believed that every man ought to know how to make it; and he wrote a book to bring that knowledge withiA everybody's reach. He himself made for himself a will, which he cherished as the greatest of his works, and which he was wont to read to his family whenever he discovered in them a demand for improving literature. This will was kept in a kind of sacred ark, which was an object of reverence and awe to many generations, and it was looked to as the greatest monument of the family. When, therefore, he died, it was thought hardly worth while to read the will, since everybody knew what was. in it. In deference, however, to the common prejudice for regularity the ark was opened, when, to the stupefaction of all, there was no will to be found, neither has any been found to this day. It is enough to drive all the conveyancers in England into lunacy.” There is a strong belief in the neighbourhood of Boyle Farm that the missing will of the late Lord St, Leonard’s, for which a reward of £SOO is offered, is buried with him. It was seen in his hands a few days before his death ; by his express desire the venerable ex-Ghancellor was laid in his coffin in a dressing gown which he usually wore, and in the pocket of this dressinggown is supposed to be the will. It is stated that steps will speedily be taken to prove the truth or falsehood of this rumour.