CURIOUS WILLS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 256, 30 January 1874, Page 4

CURIOUS WILLS.

~Snne<wlio, in life;,"Would not have, given. , ii cup ol wate.r.to.a beggar,,by their wills ,'leave iMiiii'ltious'siima to charities, to so ' .cure for theiiiselves a kind of posthumous ■ luJiuiiMtiuii. - Others allow not their ri>- ' aeiitnunta t" sleep Willi them in the grave, rlnit leiiVe behind'them wills which excite the .bitterest feelings and- animosities among their surviving relatives. Some , wills are 1 .remarkable tor their conciseness , and .perspicuity ; others lor their unprecedented shapes and curious contents. One man provides, j'm* a college, nin-ther tor a •' cat; one gives a legacy to provide bread and herrings for the poor in . Lent, and kid gloves to the minister ; while others provide for bull-baiting, the well fare of maid servants, and the promotion of matrimony. John Hodge bus kept his name , out of oblivion by giving' 1 twenty shillings, a year to a poor man to go about the parish church,of Trysail during sermon-time to keep .people awake and dogs out of -Church. Henry Green, of Melbourne, Derby- , shire, 'gave, his'property for providing * green waiscoats for four poor-women'every year,' such waistcoats to -be lined with green galloon lace- . " Tn the same-neighborhood, and inspired by a similar feeling, Thomas Gray pro-" , vided gray waistcoats and gray coats. " ' John 'Nicholson, stationer, of London, was so attached to his family name, that , the bulk of his .property was given in char- '■ ify' for' the ''support -and maintenance' of such persons in London as should appear i to be of the" name of Nicholson. David Martinett, of Calcutta, while * giving directions to His executor, says : '* "As to this fulsome' carcass, having al- --• -U&& seen enough °f worldly pomp, -1 de--' <• sire nothing'relative to'it be clone'only its" ' being stowed away in my old green chest to' save expenses." He then" bequeathed to-one marrall the debts he owed; and -to' ' '/ ; ,ahother his sincerity. ~■/';!,', A Lancashire gentlemen, inthe'last '■" century, having giving his body to'.the- ■ .worms of the family vault, bequeathed an ■ ounce of modesty to the authors of the •." London *" Journal" and " Free Briton," giving as his reasons for the smflllness of the legacy, that he was convinced that an' ounce will he found more than they'll ever make use of." Another testator, after having stated at length in his will the number of obligations he was under, bequeathed to his benefac-' tor • ten thousand—here the • leaf turned over, and the legatee, turning to the -other side, found the legacy was terr thousand thanks. * " A testator, who evidently intended to thwart his relations and be a benefactor to the lawyers, gave to certain persons - "as many acres of land as shall be found equal to the area inelosed by the centre of oscillation of the earth in a revolution round the sun, supposing the mean distance .of the sun twenty-one thousand six hundred semi-diameters of the-earth from it."

'--•'■ H . An uncle left in his will eleven silver , spoons to his nephew, adding, "TfLh'ave 'not left the dozen, he knows the .reason." The fact, was, the nephew had some little' time Uifni'e stolen the twelfth spoon from his relative. , ;, Sir Joseph Jckyll left his fortune to pay the National Debt. "When Lord Mansfield heard of this, he said; "Sir Joseph was h very good man and a good lawyer, but his bequest was a very foolish one ; he might as well have attempted to stop the rniddlle arch of Blackfriars Bridge with his full-bottom wig!" ' ■„ . ,-,,: Lord Pembroke gave "nothing.to Lord , Say, which legacy I give him because ,1, know he will bestow on the poor.;" and' then, after giving equally peculiar.legacies, -. lie finished with " Item'r'-Jgive up the- ' ' ghost " • - , Dean Swift's character-.is exemplified in his will Among other-things he be- - queathod to Mr. .John'Grattnn, of Cipm•methnn, a silver box, "in"which I desire ■> the,;sni(.l.,.loh'n ''to' 'kejep. -the' tobacco he ; usually,cheweth. 'called,pigtail "- . ' , ■ 'I he' celebrated. Sarah, Duchess of Marl-. - .borough.;'deft'.-Pitt ,';£10';000 Tor ' " the nibble''defence he'had made for the, support 'of the, laws (if,, England.' -and ;'to prevent ■' uhe ruin of 'his'country."- A''.similar be-, ..qiiest was-hot long since, made to Mr.' • ; l)jsrn'eli. "''.'",] , ./ .' -' '.Bacon will appqinting'six'executni's but no property'except hisVname and memory/ which 'fie' bequeathed to'" men!s - charitable speeoHes, .to foreign nations,"and 'the next age/ ' !" ■/ ' " \ Lord Cbfrendon ■ had nothing'to leave his daughter but his executor's kindness ; Nelson left'-neither'a"'will of *"* real onp/rsonal estate: behind him,, althoughi'US bequeathed his adopted daughter to'tue banefiqeoctTof his country, Milton's will was",tuiiicupative-r-that is,; ' ]by worUAof mouth, he. being blind at the : ..time ' he;,-made ' it. . Shakespeare's was made in ivgiilai\.form ;'.so was Byron's. Chnttertoh's Will was a strange one - consisting of a mixture-of levity, bitter ''■• satire, and actual''despair, announcing a ' i purpose of self'-tlcstructifin. , /Wthers wrote their wills in verse, and, \ ' n* n specimen, w.e'will give that of' Will—- ' ...utni Jacket, of the parish of Islington. ■[■:>[ which was.proved, in 1787 i when no wit- / were required to a.will of .personal

: pslato : —■ i • I t;[v*i> iirifl hrqtWiiHi, ■'•', ' ', VVfn'ii.l'tn Inifl rtndcnit'ivMi,- \ ' To inv fan loving niters so fleav . 'Plre whole ot my store, ' VVtnVli Owl's iro6(lnc<s Ins grnnf.erlme here, A rid fchiir. none may provenf, ,- ' Tin* ray will iv'iil iiifenfc, 'Or owitMoii'theleiwf. afdnw nickel., , VVif.il o**rt]piriii;ufr|ieul,v • ,'- *', ' , .' ; r confirm, sent. •'' . »j», , • ' ' Tlih tlic nor. uli.l tlm-if nl' Will ."- ■ '' Some wills contain a grnphy of the testator, a»p\yi\U{&i>'\m ■ thoughts 'and opinions; the will of Nii|mU' ( .M who gave" rtj handsome Ifgficy to Chantillon,' -'who had as much rttjht to iisfiiissinate that oligarchial the Duke of Wellington, as the latter had to si'iid me to perish on the rock at St. IJVena" Huch also was Sir William,Petty's,

which status, with a uertaiii amount of sell-pride, that " at the lull age of. fifteen 1 had obtained the Latin', Wench,' and Greek tongues," and at twenty years ol age, " had gotten up three score pounds with as much mathematics, as any of my age were known to have."