Chapter IV: Curious Wills (2)

“His attachment to this animal,” says Lord Campbell, “was very affecting. He used to say while he caressed him: ‘Poor Pincher belonged to poor William Henry, and after I took the Sacrament with him when he was dying, he called me back as I was leaving the room and said: “Father, you will take care of poor Pincher.”

“‘The dog was brought home to me when all was over, and in a short time he was missed; he was immediately sought for, and it was found he had gone back and was lying on the bed beside his dead master.’ He had another story about this dog which was decoyed away by a dog-stealer, and recovered by the Ex-Chancellor compounding felony with the thief. On receiving a letter signed, ‘An Amateur Dog-fancier,’ a negotiation was opened which led to Lord Eldon sending a servant with a five-pound note to a house in Cow Cross Street, where Pincher was found. The man being dealt with ‘on honour,’ freely disclosed the secrets of his trade, and in answer to a gentle reproach, replied: ‘Why, what can we do? Now that Parliament has stopped our trade in procuring bodies for the surgeons, we are obliged to turn to this to get an _honest_ livelihood.’

“Pincher is introduced into several portraits of his master, who said: ‘Poor fellow! he has a right to be painted with me, for when my man Smith took him the other day to a law bookseller’s, where there happened to be several lawyers, they all received him with great respect, and the master of the shop exclaimed: “How very like he is to _old Eldon_, particularly when he wore a wig!--but, indeed, many people say he is the handsomer chap of the two.’”

“After Lord Eldon’s death, Pincher was painted by that consummate judge of the canine race, Sir Edwin Landseer, who remarked of him: ‘He is a very picturesque old dog, with a wonderful look of cleverness in his face.’ He has represented him listening to the ticking of a watch given to the Chancellor by George III.”

A DOG’S HOSPITAL

An old lady who died in Paris in December, 1876, left a singular legacy to the city of Marseilles, being 85,000 francs, for the purpose of founding within its precincts an hospital--“pour les chiens et les chevaux malheureux.” M. Mertin, a notary of Paris, it was who received the will of Madame Veuve Perren, _née_ Enouf, and who communicated its dispositions to M. Maglione, mayor of Marseilles.

CHLOROFORM AND WATER FOR ANIMALS

There is on file in the city of Saint Louis, Missouri, the will of Phoebe Deliah Nye, which contains, among others, these items:

“Item: I direct my Executor, immediately upon taking charge of my estate, to end the life of my faithful dog, Lily, by the application of chloroform, it being my desire to spare her from ending her days without that care which she would receive if I were living.

“Item: I direct my Trustee to establish, erect and maintain in various parts of the City of Saint Louis, Drinking Fountains and Places where both man and beast may at all times, both day and night, have fresh water to drink; convenient of access to all and free from any expense to them.

“It is my will and I direct that each and every one of such drinking places shall be so arranged that dogs and cats may drink, and that they may be permitted to do so freely; such drinking places are to be selected where they will be most needed and be most useful and in as many different places as possible, and particularly in the more congested and more frequented portions of the city.

“Item: I authorize and empower my Trustee to expend one-half of the Corpus and all of the net revenue from my estate in the establishing, erecting, and maintaining of the drinking places.

“Item: I authorize and empower my Trustee to employ such persons as in its judgment may be necessary to maintain and look after these drinking places at an expense not to exceed one-fourth of the net income and revenue from the trust estate; and to carry out my intent, my Trustee is authorized to purchase or to lease sufficient ground, upon which to establish such drinking places, and to accept donations and gifts of property, real and personal, to be added to the trust fund to be used in the same way and for the same purposes.”

CHRONOMETERS AND DOGS

Sir James South, the astronomer, by his will, which was proved in 1868, gave a pocket-chronometer each to the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Earl of Rosse, and Mr. A. J. Stephens, the condition in each case being that the chronometer should be carried in the pantaloon pocket of the wearer, according to the habit of the testator. Sir James South also left £30 a year to one of his female servants during the lifetime of a favorite terrier named “Tiger”; and this animal was produced in the Equity Court in 1872, when a question arose as to its existence. On behalf of the dog or its keeper, it was asked that a sum of £1000 Consols should be set apart to meet the annuity, but the Vice-Chancellor held that the rules of the court, which applied to human beings, did not extend to dogs, and said that the executor’s personal undertaking for the rest of the dog’s life would be sufficient.

A LOVER OF THE CANINE RACE

In the _Gazetta del Popolo_ of Turin, of September 2, 1874, is found the following:

“Last week was opened by Zanini, the notary public, the will of a certain L. C., who, after having made a considerable fortune by means of the journal, the _Caroccio_, disposed of it in the following manner:

“‘I leave to the municipality of Casale an annuity of 1500 lire from the public debt, to be employed in rescuing all the dogs that shall fall into the hands of the civic dog-seizer (_accalappiatore_).

“‘I leave to my dog Schmid a rent from the public funds of 500 lire annually, to revert after his death to the foundlings of the city.’”

LUCKY DOGS

Many valuable bequests have been made to dogs, and other domestic pets. Dr. Christiano, of Venice, left sixty thousand florins for the maintenance of his three dogs, with a condition that, at their death, the sum should be added to the funds of the University of Vienna.

SAMBO AND ROMP

A Mr. Thomas Edmett, an Englishman, died in October, 1871, having by a codicil to his will, made in 1861, bequeathed as follows: “I bequeath to my faithful servant Elizabeth Osborne, on condition that she take care of my favorite dog, an annuity of £50 for her life, to be paid to her quarterly.” The annuity was given to her for her separate use, with a restraint on anticipation. The testator had at the time of making his will a favorite dog named Romp, which died before him. He, however, subsequently had another favorite dog called Sambo, which was in his possession at the time of his death. Elizabeth Osborne had taken care of Sambo as well as Romp. She claimed to be entitled to the annuity of £50 discharged from the condition of taking care of the dog.

The Vice-Chancellor held that Elizabeth Osborne was entitled to the annuity of £50 for her life. He hoped she would take care of Sambo, but he should not make the annuity contingent on her doing so.

DOG SAVED HIS LIFE

A singular will was that of Mr. Berkeley, an Englishman of fortune, who died on the 5th May, 1805, at Knightsbridge. By this instrument he left a pension of twenty-five pounds to four of his dogs, having a particular affection for animals. Some one having observed to him that a portion of the sums he spent on them would be better employed in relieving his fellow-men, he replied, “Men have attempted my life, whereas it was to a dog that I own that I am alive.”

And, indeed, it appeared that during a journey through France and Italy this gentleman, being attacked by brigands, had been protected and saved by his dog; the four animals he pensioned by his will were the descendants of this faithful and serviceable friend. His steward was charged to spend the whole amount on the dogs and to reserve nothing for himself; and the testator entered into the most minute particulars as to its expenditure. Feeling his end near, Mr. Berkeley desired that two arm chairs might be brought to his bedside, and his four dogs seated on them, received their last caresses, which he returned with the best of his failing strength, and died in their paws.

By an article in his will he ordered that the busts of his four dogs, descendants of the dog who saved his life, should be carved in stone and placed at the four corners of his tomb.

A WEALTHY CAT

In 1892 a Paris lady left ten thousand francs to her cat. On its death, the money was to be spent on elementary schools. Recently, the death of the cat caused the money to divert to the district governing body for this purpose.

CAT, NAMED IN WILL, DEAD

In the will of Mrs. Sarah Titus Zabriskie, filed for probate at Newport early in September, 1910, provision was made for “Whiskers,” a cat that had been Mrs. Zabriskie’s pet for many years. It was provided that if Mrs. Zabriskie’s daughter, who was chief beneficiary, died before “Whiskers” passed away, the cat was to be put to death painlessly by Dr. Thomas G. Sherwood, a veterinarian, of No. 107 West Thirty-seventh Street, New York.

Dr. Sherwood was not called upon, however. The animal was chloroformed a month before the will was filed. It appears “Whiskers” suffered from an incurable disease, contracted in earlier and happier years, and predeceased his mistress.

CAT AND DOG MONEY

In a certain county in England, there is what is known as “cat and dog” money given to the poor, but which, in the first instance, was left for the support of cats and dogs. Then, too, there are the cow and bull benefactions in several English parishes, which have been left to provide cattle whose milk would go to the poor.

A CAT MENU

A remarkable will was that of a famous harpist of the seventeenth century, by name Madame Dupuis. So eccentric indeed was it considered that it gave occasion to a _cause célèbre_, and has been mentioned by various contemporary writers--among others, by Moncriff, by Mercier St. Leger and by Bayle. This testatrix died in 1677, and, if a rambling style of writing be any test of insanity, this lady ought assuredly to have been placed in durance. The document abounds in violent expressions and unchastened invective; while the singular mode of applying the very large property she has at her disposal, the vindictive retributions she conjures, and the exclamations and apostrophes into which she bursts at intervals, culminate in the final clause, which we translate faithfully as follows:

“Item: I desire my sister, Marie Bluteau, and my niece, Madame Calonge, to look to my cats. If both should survive me, thirty sous a week must be laid out upon them, in order that they may live well.

“They are to be served daily, in a clean and proper manner, with two meals of meat-soup, the same as we eat ourselves, but it is to be given them separately in two soup-plates. The bread is not to be cut up into the soup, but must be broken into squares about the size of a nut, otherwise they will refuse to eat it. A ration of meat, finely minced, is to be added to it; the whole is then to be mildly seasoned, put into a clean pan, covered close, and carefully simmered before it is dished up. If only one cat should survive, half the sum mentioned will suffice.

“Nicole-Pigeon is to take charge of my two cats, and to be very careful of them. Madame Calonge is to visit them three times a week.”

A CATS’ HOME

A Mr. Jonathan Jackson, of Columbus, Ohio, died some thirty years ago, leaving orders to his executors to erect a cats’ home, the plans and elevation of which he had drawn out with great care and thought. The building was to contain dormitories, a refectory, areas for conversation, grounds for exercise, and gently sloping roofs for climbing, with rat-holes for sport, an “auditorium” within which the inmates were to be assembled daily to listen to an accordion, which was to be played for an hour each day by an attendant, that instrument being the nearest approach to their natural voices. An infirmary, to which were to be attached a surgeon and three or four professed nurses, was to adjoin the establishment.

No mention seems to have been made of a chapel or a chaplain!

The testator gives as his reason for thus disposing of his property that “it is man’s duty as lord of animals to watch over and protect the lesser and feebler, even as God watches over and protects man.”

He does not, however, explain how it happens that on this principle he does not consider it his duty to protect rats from the “sporting” propensities of cats.

LORD CHESTERFIELD’S CAT

Lord Chesterfield left a sum for the support of his favorite cat, so also did one Frederic Harper, who settled one hundred pounds, invested in three per cent annuities, on his “young black cat”; the interest to be paid to his housekeeper, Mrs. Hodges, as long as the cat should remain alive. It does not appear how he provided against the substitution of any supposititious black cat for his favorite, should she have died whether of neglect or otherwise.

A PREMIUM ON PIGMANSHIP

A wealthy tradesman, M. Thomas Heviant, died at the village of Crône-sur-Marne in 1878. In his will he made a number of singular bequests, among which was the following, which is carried out at the annual fête of the village. He ordered that among the amusements should be instituted a race with pigs, the animals to be ridden either by men or boys. The sum of 2000 francs was set apart as the prize to the lucky rider of the winning pig. The prize was not to be handed over, however, except on the condition that the winner wore deep mourning for the deceased during two years after the competition. The municipality accepted the eccentric bequest, and these singular races have been held agreeably to the terms of the will.

3

CHARITY

“ ... Faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these
is charity.”

A PERPETUITY INVOLVED

A certain gentleman of New York named Marshall had acquired a large fortune in the manufacture of cotton goods. The Lord had smiled upon him, and his wealth consequently loomed up in large proportions. He was justly proud of his material success, and, being childless and without kin on this side of the ocean, he resolved to perpetuate his name and commemorate that liberality towards charitable and religious objects, for which he had always been remarkable. His plan was to have his executors carry on his manufacturing business for the benefit of religious and charitable corporations. He left his manufacturing establishment to his executors in trust to carry on the same and divide the profits in certain proportions between the American Tract Society, the American Home Missionary Society and the American Bible Society, and the Marshall Infirmary, the latter being a hospital which he had founded. The court held, however, that there was a perpetuity involved, and directed that the estate be divided between the next of kin. The court held that the business of such religious societies was the printing of tracts and Bibles, and not the manufacture of cotton cloths. It took eight years and cost $50,000 to establish the legal meaning of the will, which was a very different meaning from that which the testator intended.

WISE WILL OF PETER BURNS

For years to come some families of Clay County, Missouri, will have occasion to remember with gratitude the wise philanthropy of a sturdy pioneer, Peter B. Burns of Liberty, who died in July, 1910; the terms of his will have just been made public. On the death of the widow half the estate, which is valued at more than $40,000, is to go to Clay County to be administered by the County Court in loans, which are not to exceed $2000 to a single individual and to bear two per cent interest; are to be secured by a mortgage on the real estate; and are to be paid off at the rate of at least $100 a year. Thus ten families at a time will constantly be given a lift toward financial independence.

The plan is based on the sensible principle of helping men to help themselves. As the help is in the shape of a loan, to be repaid, it will pauperize no one. It will go to families of small means, and it will provide an incentive to people to save enough to take advantage of the assistance offered.

NO STUDY BEFORE BREAKFAST

Countess Anna Maria Helena de Nouilles, a member of one of the historic families of France, has made a curious will which was proved in July, 1910.

She left her estate at Meads, Eastbourne, England, to found “St. Mary’s Orphanage,” laying down the following rules for the education of the girls:

“No competitive examinations, no study before breakfast, no study after 6 P.M., all lessons to be learned in the morning, no girl to work more than four and a half hours daily. No arithmetic, except the multiplication table for children under ten. No child with curvature of the spine to write more than five minutes a day, until thirteen. Each girl must be certified by two phrenologists as not deficient in conscientiousness and firmness. No child to be vaccinated.”

WEARY OF READING THE WILL

Nearly a hundred years ago, the Reverend Dr. Van Bunschooten departed this life and entered upon his reward: by his last will and testament, he left a legacy of $20,000 to the Dutch Reformed Church of America; the gift was accepted by that body and very properly expended for church purposes.

The testator, doubtless, with a view to posthumous fame and remembrance, made the gift on the express condition that his will should be read at all the official sessions of the Church forever. The Church has ever since been reading this document at all its official meetings.

It appears that the testament is of considerable length and much dryness, and its reading has become an irksome task: the Church has recently appealed to the courts of New York to be released from the duty of further reading the will, and it is to be hoped that the proper tribunal will determine that sufficient fidelity and honor have been shown.

WILL OF PINEDO, THE PORTUGUESE JEW

This remarkable Israelite, well known in Amsterdam for his enormous wealth and liberal donations, died about the middle of the eighteenth century. His will, testifying to a noble and generous nature, and disposing in the most magnanimous and tolerant spirit of the very large fortune he had made, is to be found (in Schutt’s “Memorabilia Judaica,” lib. iv. cap. 18) as follows:

“I bequeath to the city of Amsterdam the sum of five ‘tons’ of gold.

“I lend to the said city for ten years, and without interest, the sum of a million and a half of florins.

“I give to every Christian church at Amsterdam and at the Hague the sum of 10,000 florins each, and to the church in the southern quarter of Amsterdam 20,000 florins.

“I give to each Christian orphanage in the two towns the sum of 10,000 crowns.

“I give to the poor of Amsterdam forty shiploads of peat.

“I give to the orphan who shall first quit the orphanage 1000 florins, and to the one who shall succeed him 600 florins.

“I give to the synagogue at Amsterdam two and a half ‘tons’ of gold.

“I give to the Portuguese orphanage 30,000 crowns.

“I lend to the Government at three per cent. interest, ten ‘tons’ of gold on condition that the interest shall be paid to the Jews domiciled at Jerusalem: the capital to belong to the Government in perpetuity.

“I give to the German synagogue 5000 florins.

“I give to my nephew Ovis thirty-one ‘tons’ of gold, with all my houses and appurtenances.

“I give to my widow ten ‘tons’ of gold.

“I give to my other relations in equal portions 10,000 crowns.

“I give to each of my neighbours who shall assist at my funeral 100 ducats.

“I give to every unmarried person of either sex who shall be present at my burial 100 florins, and to every Christian priest in Amsterdam and at the Hague 100 crowns, and to every sacristan 50 crowns.”

CHARITABLE LIGHT

John Wardall, of London, by will, dated 29th August, 1656, gave to the Grocers’ Company, a tenement called the White Bear, in Walbrook, to the intent that they should yearly, within thirty days after Michaelmas, pay to the churchwardens of St. Botolph, Billingsgate, £4 to provide a good and sufficient iron and glass lantern, with a candle, for the direction of passengers to go with more security to and from the waterside all night long; the same to be fixed at the northeast corner of the parish church of St. Botolph, from the Feast Day of St. Bartholomew to Lady-day; out of which sum £1 was to be paid to the sexton for taking care of the lantern.

GRATITUDE

Charles Jones, Esq., of Lincoln’s Inn, by will, dated 17th January, 1640, directed that an hospital should be built near Pullhelly for 12 poor men, and that his father first, his uncle next, and so their heirs, should fairly and justly manage and govern such hospital, which he had long resolved, and with the desire of his deceased wife, who was with his father, and their mother, his brother Griffith, his sister, his wife, himself, and other servants, mercifully preserved and brought to land in Pullhelly, from imminent and present danger of the seas by God’s unspeakable love and favor; and whereas likewise he in his younger years was miraculously, by God’s own hand, drawn and led from the house in Port thyn Llayn, Wales, that was instantly cast and thrown down by the moultringe of an hill near thereunto, and therein nine persons and Christians were killed by reason thereof; himself, a child of three or four years of age at the most, having newly entered the house, and in a moment returned, not thirty yards from the house, but it fell all to dust and rubbish; for these and many other of God’s great mercies and loving kindness unto him, he and his deceased wife had determined of this poor hospital; for the maintenance of which hospital to be erected, he devised forever certain lands, of £50 per annum, and ordained his brother, Robert Jones, his executor.

It appears by a Latin inscription in front of the almshouses, that the benevolent intentions of the founder were entirely frustrated during the troubles of the civil war, and that the present edifice was erected by his heir, William Price, Esq., of Rhiwlas, in the year 1760.

A LIGHT FOR NIGHT TRAVELLERS

John Cooke, of St. Michael, Crooked Lane, London, by will, dated 12th September, 1662, gave to the churchwardens and vestrymen of this parish £76, to be laid out to the most profit and advantage, for various uses, and, amongst them

To the parish clerk, on condition that he should weekly, on a Saturday, sweep and make clean the aisle of the church called Fishmongers’ Aisle, 6_s._ 8_d._

For the maintenance of a lantern and candle, to be of eight in the pound at the least, to be kept and hanged out at the corner of St. Michael’s Lane, next Thames Street, from Michaelmas to Lady-day, between the hours of nine and ten o’clock at night, until the hours of four or five in the morning, for affording light to passengers going through Thames Street or St. Michael’s Lane, £1.

BEER FOR HIS ASSOCIATES

In 1879 died at Berlin a singular character, a man of large property and a fervent follower of the sect of Gambrinus.

The _Tageblatt_ states that he had made in his will some capricious dispositions as regarded his burial; so abnormal, indeed, as to call for the intervention of the police; one of his directions being that his friends were to take it in turns to roll after his hearse a barrel of beer, which they were afterwards to consume upon his grave.

He distributed his large fortune among divers charitable institutions; but to his will was appended a codicil which was not to be opened until a year after his death. This anniversary, adds the _Tageblatt_, occurred recently.

The codicil being now accessible reveals a decree creating a fund of ten thousand marks, the interest of which is to be expended in serving weekly a quarter of a tun of Bavarian beer to the frequenters of a brewery in the Prinzenstrasse, where the testator had been in the habit of spending his evenings regularly during many years--these persons being such as survived of his contemporaries. As soon as all shall be dead, the fund is to be transferred to the first foundling hospital that shall be founded in Berlin, the testator himself having been a foundling.

TRAVELLERS’ REST

George Butler, of Coleshill, Warwickshire, by will, dated September 2, 1591, gave his house at the lower end of the town of Coleshill, called the almshouse, also a house and lands in Gilson, to the uses following, viz., that the rents thereof should be employed to keep the said almshouse in repair, and buy furniture when wanting; that the feoffees, or constables, with their consent, might lodge any poor travellers that should desire it in the said almshouse; that none should be suffered to lodge there more than one night, except great cause shown; that care be taken women and men lodge not near together; that some persons be permitted to dwell there rent free, to wash the house and furniture, and to take care of the poor lodgers; that the overplus of the rent be employed to some charitable use.

POOR MAIMED SOLDIERS

Phillip Shelley, of London, by will, dated the 6th of September, 1603, gave certain lands in Ulkerthorpe, in the county of Derby, to the Company of Goldsmiths, in trust (amongst other matters), to pay £10 per annum forever towards the relief of poor maimed soldiers, which sum is paid generally to ten pensioners of Chelsea Hospital.

TOLERANCE

William Wilson, of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, by his will, dated 15th of April, 1726, gave the sum of £100 South Sea Stock to the Chamber of the Corporation of Tewkesbury, upon trust, to permit the high bailiff for the time being to receive the dividends thereon, and dispose of the same, at his discretion, to poor persons of Tewkesbury, especially to such as should be visited with sickness or other calamitous accidents, without any regard to differences of political and religious opinions, the bailiff to account to the chamber for the disposal of the same, and to retain 10_s_. for his trouble.

A REPUBLICAN WILL

In August, 1874, MM. Nicolet and Colmet-d’Ange were employed to plead before the première chambre against the will of Adolphe-Théodore-Ange, du Laurens de la Barre.

The number of this gentleman’s names is in itself an eccentricity; his will was another. We need not cite the whole of it, but the following was the concluding clause:

“In case I should leave no grand-nephews, I bequeath my property, after the death of Madame Duhem and Mdlle. Verdun, to the three cities of Guingamp, Morlaix, and Lannion, on condition that the revenues of the same shall be employed to give marriage portions annually, and alternately, in each such city, to five young girls of small means.

“I desire that they shall begin by Guingamp and follow with the others in regular order.

“I further request the republican members of the conseil-général of the Finisterre, to the number of five--to the absolute exclusion of Legitimists, Orleanists, Imperialists, and above all of Clericals and Communards--to find five young girls whose parents, and who also themselves, hold the same opinions as myself. If at the conseil-général there should not be found the required number of members, those there are must call upon the municipal counsellors of the above-named towns, and if they should refuse to accept, on all the municipal counsellors.

“The Breton people is dominated, enchained by old prejudices; it must be liberated from its bondage.

“I believe in an unknown God whom I invoke daily, but not in a God of human creation.

“(Signed) ADOLPHE-THÉODORE-ANGE, du Laurens de la Barre.

“Guingamp, 5th October, 1872.”

A PROVISION FOR TWINS

Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Mills, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, are the first claimants under a bequest made in the will of Hon. James J. H. Gregory, which provides that the income of $1000 shall be divided each year among the parents of twins born in Marblehead. The Mills twins were born July 10, 1910, and are boys.

The will, which was probated about a month after Mr. Gregory’s death in February, 1910, reads as follows:

“Having had my sympathies often aroused by reason of the extra burden and care entailed on loving mothers, poor in the things of earth, who have brought twins into the world, as an expression of that sympathy I leave in trust to my beloved town $1000, with the provision that the interest be divided on January first between all twins born in Marblehead during the previous year. In case no twins are born during a given year the interest shall be added to the principal.”

DROPPING MONEY ON A TOMBSTONE

On Good Friday, in the Churchyard of St. Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, after divine service, one of the clergymen drops twenty-one sixpences on a tombstone, to be picked up by as many poor people, widows having the preference. The will providing for this is lost, and the distribution is now made out of the parish funds. The bequest is said to date several hundreds of years back.

CHARITY SERMONS TO COMMEMORATE NATIONAL MERCIES

Luke Jackson, citizen and girdler, of London, by will, dated 26th of January, 1630, reciting that he was seized in fee of certain tithes at or near Horsepool, in the county of Leicester, being about the value of £20 per annum, devised the same to certain persons on trust, yearly, to pay the clear rents and profits thereof in manner following; that is to say, two equal third parts as followeth: 40s. thereof yearly to be given for two sermons to be preached in St. Peter’s church, in the town of Nottingham, on 28th of July and 5th of November, acknowledging God’s mercy, and giving thanks for the deliverance of this land and people at two several times from the Invincible Armada (as it was termed) in 1588, and from the Gunpowder Plot in 1605: and the residue of the said two-thirds to be distributed amongst the poor people in the parish of St. Peter, at the discretion of his five feoffees; and the other third part of the clear profits of the said tithes as followeth, viz., 40_s._ for two sermons to be preached in the church of Thornton, near Horsepool, on the two above mentioned days; and the residue to be distributed amongst the poor people in the parish of Thornton, at the discretion of his feoffees.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR MAID-SERVANTS

John Cogan, of Canterbury, England, by his will, bearing date 27th of July, 1657, recited that he had lately purchased lands and tenements in the parishes of St. Mildred and St. Mary Castle, Canterbury, and in Thanington in Kent, of the yearly value of £35, which he hoped in ten years would improve in yearly value by £10, and which he intended to dispose of for the encouragement of maid-servants, to continue in service for six or seven years together; he therefore willed and devised the sum of five pounds apiece to any such three maid-servants as should, without compulsion, dwell with any master or mistress, not being their own kindred, within the city of Canterbury, for six or seven years together, without shifting their service; and he directed that such master or mistress should give a certificate of such service, and that the wages had not exceeded fifty shillings a year, to the mayor, recorder and three or more of the aldermen of the said city for the time being; and he further directed that the overplus, after keeping the said tenements in good repair, should be employed by the said mayor, recorder and three of the said ancient aldermen for the time being, in clothing six fatherless maiden children, from the age of six to twelve years, each to have a petticoat and waistcoat of colored kersey, one pair of shoes, and one pair of stockings, on Christmas Day; and that they should go through the city of Canterbury from parish to parish, as the said overplus would extend.

BULL BAITING

George Staverton, of Wokingham, Berks, England, by will, dated May, 1661, gave out of his Staines house a yearly sum of £6 to buy a bull, which bull he gave to the poor of Wokingham town and parish, being baited, and the gift money, hide, and offal to be sold and bestowed upon the poor children in stockings of the Welsh, and shoes.

Until 1823 the baiting of the animal took place yearly on the 21st of December, in the market-place of Wokingham. In that year the Corporation determined upon discontinuing such a proceeding, which has since accordingly been omitted.

MUST ATTEND CHURCH

The last will and testament of Thomas Spackman, of Cliffe Pypard, Wilts, England, is as follows:

“June 5th, 1675.--I do charge my lands with twenty-one shillings by the year, and to continue for ever; viz., one shilling to the minister of the parish, to mind him of his duty in catechizing the children; twenty shillings to the poor of the parish yearly, to be given them at the church, viz.--five shillings on St. Thomas’s Day, five shillings on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, five shillings on St. John the Baptist’s and five shillings on St. Matthew’s Day: my Will is, that twenty poor people do receive threepence a-piece, and that they be at the church at the beginning of prayers, or else to have no share; if the number be not twenty, then the remains to be given to those that are best deserving; and if they can, let them sing the 15th Psalm; now, if the minister be a good man, he will be careful to see this my Will performed, for the honour of the church, that at this day is almost destitute.”

The land charged with this payment is in the tithing of Broad Town, and the property of William Ruddle Brown, a farmer. The sum has been for many years distributed in bread.

FANCY FOR COLOR

Henry Greene, of Melbourne, Derbyshire, England, by will, dated 22d of December, 1679, gave to his sister, Catherine Greene, during her life, all his lands in Melbourne and Newton, and after her decease to others, in trust, upon condition that the said Catherine Greene should give four green waistcoats to four poor women every year, such four green waistcoats to be lined with green galloon lace, and to be delivered to the said poor women on or before the 21st of December yearly, that they might be worn on Christmas Day.

FOR PAUPERS

Valentine Goodman, of Hallaton, Leicestershire, England, by will, dated in 1684, bequeathed £800, to be laid out in land, and the profits thereof given to the “most indigent, poorest, aged, decrepid, miserablest paupers,” viz., six from Easton, four from Medbourn, four from Hallaton, and two from Blaston; and if any part of the money (was) employed for easing town levies, or not according to the intent of the testator, then he declared that the gift should cease, and the money be employed for the redemption of Turkish captives.

A RELIGIOUS TASK

Dr. Thomas White, of Newark, Nottinghamshire, England, Bishop of Peterborough, by his will, bearing date in 1690, gave to the poor of the parish of Newark £240, to be laid out in land, £10 of which rent he allotted to the poor yearly forever, and the surplusage, whatever it should be, to the rector, as a reward for his pains and fidelity in the distribution of the said £10 to the poor; and he directed that the distribution should be made yearly by the rector in the church porch, in the presence of the churchwardens or overseers, in the following manner, viz.: that it should be distributed the 14th of December to twenty poor families, or persons of forty years old each, by equal shares, reckoning husband and wife for one person, who should, before the receipt thereof, exactly and distinctly repeat the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Ten Commandments, without missing or changing one word therein. And if any man and wife should appear for a share in the said charity, it should not be a sufficient qualification for them that one of them made the exact rehearsal, but they should both make it, or else have no share at all in it. He also directed that no one should receive his charity twice, till all the poor of the parish should have received it once who should make the repetition aforesaid, that the advantage might spread as far as possible.

ATTACHMENT TO A FAMILY NAME

John Nicholson of London, Stationer, by will, dated 28th of April, 1717, after bequeathing several specific legacies, gave all the residue of his estate in charity towards the support and maintenance of such poor persons of the Kingdom of England as should appear to be of the name of Nicholson, being Protestants; and he directed that it should be disposed of in the following manner, namely:

One hundred pounds a year to two such poor persons, men or women, of the name of Nicholson, towards their advancement in marriage; to each of them £50; always observing that no more than £50 be given to any one couple so marrying.

One hundred pounds per annum towards putting to apprentice such poor boys and girls of the name of Nicholson, or towards setting them up, as his trustees should think fit.

And one hundred pounds per annum towards the support and maintenance of such poor men and women of the name of Nicholson, as his trustees should direct; always observing that not more than £10 a year and not less than £5 a year should be given to any one person; the said sums to be paid to them at their own habitations.

He appointed William Nicholson, Lord Bishop of Carlisle; Mr. Nicholson, the Bishop’s son; and three other persons of the name of Nicholson, two of whom were resident in London, trustees, and left to them the entire management of this charity and appointed them his executors.

BEQUEST TO PAY MARRIAGE FEES

Mr. Thomas Hatch, of Winkfield, Berks, England, by will, dated 3d of December, 1778, gave to the churchwardens of Winkfield £200 to be laid out in the public funds, the interest to be applied to the payment of the fees for such poor persons as are willing to marry, but cannot pay the expense.

After the payment of the marriage fees of such couples as claim it, the residue is distributed by the churchwardens in small sums of money and articles of clothing to such poor persons as they may think deserving.

WILL LEAVING A FUND TO ENDOW A ROSIÈRE

By her will, dated 6th of December, 1870, a lady of Puteaux, Madame Jeanne Cartault, bequeathed to that parish the sum of fifteen thousand francs, the interest of which was to be employed every year in providing a marriage portion for the most deserving among the poor working girls, and was to be called the Cartault foundation. The gift only to be made over to the recipient on her marriage, and the administrator to pay the amount only on the wedding-day, and in presence of the registrar. The marriage to take place on or about the 17th of January, being the wedding-day of Madame Cartault.

A clause in the will provides that the firstborn of this marriage shall, if a boy, take the name of Edmond--that of M. Cartault, and, if a girl, that of Jeanne--being the name of the testatrix.

According to these directions, on the 29th of January, 1874, took place the crowning of the first Rosière of Puteaux, in conformity with the prescriptions of the will, and with it the donation of the amount of one year’s interest on the sum bequeathed--seven hundred and fifty francs.

The choice had fallen on a young woman of twenty-four, Mademoiselle Eugénie Bouillaud. Her qualifications justified the selection. She was an orphan, and from the time she was ten years of age had worked for the support of her grandparents, who lived in extreme poverty. Her mother died when she was born, and her father was killed in trying to rescue a fellow-workman from a well into which he had fallen.

The ceremony was rendered picturesque by the arrangements made to honor the occasion, but for some reason every demonstration of a religious nature was excluded. An immense tent had been erected near the mayor’s house, decorated with flags and banners. The proceedings were opened with a piece of orchestral music, admirably executed by the Orpheonic band of the town. The mayor made a neat and appropriate speech, after which M. Laboulaye addressed the Rosière and the assembled spectators.

The concluding incident of the ceremony was the crowning of the young girl, whose quiet, modest demeanor well became her pale but interesting face. Her name was then inscribed on the virgin page of the _Livre d’or des Rosières de Puteaux_, and her autograph signature was written beneath it with a somewhat trembling hand.

TO PROMOTE BROTHERLY LOVE

Robert Halliday, of Eastcheap, London, by his will, dated 6th of May, 1491, gave estates in the parish of St. Leonard, Eastcheap, the rents to be applied to various purposes, and, amongst others, 5_s._ to the churchwardens yearly, either to make an entertainment among such persons of his home parish of St. Clement, who should be at variance with each other, in the week preceding Easter, to induce such persons to better neighborhood, and to beget brotherly love amongst them; or if none should be found in the said parish, then to make an entertainment with the said 5_s._ at the tavern amongst the honest parishioners of the said parish on the day of our Lord’s Supper, commonly called Shere Thursday, that they may pray more fervently for the souls of certain persons named in his will.

DRINKING

Edward Cooper, of Slinfold, Sussex, England, by his will, dated 10th of February, 1621, gave 20_s._ a year out of lands called Whitbers, in Slinfold, 15_s._ thereof to be bestowed by the churchwardens and overseers upon a drinking, for the use of the poor of the parish yearly, at the feast day of the Purification of the Virgin, in as good sort as they could, and the other 5_s._ to drink withal themselves, for their labor and pains therein.

The land is now called South Whitbreads, and the owner of the property regularly pays the sum of £l yearly, which is distributed amongst the poor at Christmas by the churchwardens and overseers.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO ATTEND DIVINE SERVICE

Thomas Walker, of St. James’s, Bristol, England, by his will, dated 25th of April, 1666, ordered as follows: “I give and bequeath to that poor parish of St. James the sum of £200, to purchase for ever the sum of £10 8_s._ 0_d._ a year for eight poor house-keepers that are known to live in the fear of God, and to come unto the church every Lord’s day, a six-penny loaf of bread every Sabbath day, after morning prayer, unto these eight poor house-keepers for ever; but for God’s sake let them be no drunkards nor common swearers--no, nor that do beg in the streets from door to door, but let them be quiet people that do desire to live in the fear of God. Pray let their bread be wheaten bread, and weight as it ought to be.”

STORMY DAYS

Thomas Williamson, of Castlerigg, Cumberland, England, by will, dated 14th of December, 1674, gave the sum of £20 to be laid out in land to be bestowed upon poor people, born within St. John’s Chapelry or Castlerigg, in mutton or veal, at Martinmas yearly, when flesh might be thought cheapest, to be by them pickled or hung up and dried, that they might have something to keep them within doors upon stormy days.

SNUFF AND TOBACCO FOR THE SICK

Dr. F. W. Cumming left six hundred pounds to the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, to provide poor patients, male and female, with snuff and tobacco, giving the following reason for his unusual bequest: “I know how to feel for the suffering of those, who in addition to the irksomeness of pain and the tedium of confinement, have to endure the privation of what long habit has rendered in a great degree a necessity of life.”

TO TOLL THE BELL

William Minta, of Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire, who died 8th of June, 1724, gave £5 to the poor of Gonerby, to be distributed in bread to sixteen aged people, on Good Friday, yearly, a “threepenny dole a piece,” and the clerk was “to toll the bell at three o’clock, and to read the Epistle and Gospel, and sing the Lamentation of a Sinner,” and to have one shilling reward.

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES

William Taylor, of Shropshire, England, by will, dated 6th of February, 1735, directed that Elizabeth Leigh, then owner, and the persons who subsequently should be owners of his two freehold houses, &c., situate in High Street, in the parish of St. Leonard, should yearly, for ever, on the 26th of December, give and provide a good and wholesome dinner for the poor persons, almshouse women, inhabiting the almshouse belonging to the parish of St. Leonard, in such manner as of late years has been provided for them on that day by the testator and his late brother; and they to be so entertained in the most convenient part of the house that fronted the street; and upon every default his Will was, and he ordered the sum of £10 to be paid to, and equally divided amongst, such poor persons, and the same to be chargeable upon the said houses, &c.

GRATITUDE FOR BEING PRESERVED IN A BATTLE

Ezekiel Nash, an Englishman, of Bristol, St. James’, for a memorial of his thankfulness to Almighty God for his wonderful preservation in an engagement with a French frigate, March the 8th, 1762, gave by will, dated 27th of March, 1800, the sum of £100, to the churchwardens and overseers for the time being of such parish as he should be buried in, upon trust, to invest the same and apply the interest annually in manner following, viz., to the minister of the same parish, for preaching a sermon yearly, on the 8th of March, forever, one guinea; to the clerk and sexton for their attendance, 5_s._ each; the residue in the purchase of bread, to be distributed on the 8th of March, and the six Sundays next following, among such poor persons of the parish whom the minister, churchwardens and overseers should think fit objects to receive the same, not receiving alms or other charity.

THE GRATITUDE OF A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

Henry Archer, Esq., of Hale, England, in the county of Southampton, by will, dated the 5th of November, 1764, gave the sum of £500 to the poor of the borough of Warwick, in grateful remembrance of the very great honor conferred on him by the said borough (which he represented in Parliament) for thirty years and upwards, to be disposed of, and managed to the best advantage of the said poor by his brother Lord Archer, the Earl of Warwick, and Matthew Wise, Esq., and by the respective vicars, churchwardens and overseers of the poor of the parishes of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, in the said borough, for the time being.

The interest is employed in purchasing coals in the summer, and selling them to the poor at a reduced price in winter.

IN COMMEMORATION OF JOHN BUNYAN

Samuel Whitbread, Esq., of Bedford, England, by will, dated the 13th of July, 1795, gave to the trustees of the “Old Meeting,” out of respect to the memory of John Bunyan, and for the relief of the poor of the congregation, five hundred pounds, to be laid out by his executors in the Three Per Cent. Consols, and the dividends to be annually applied in giving bread to the poor in quartern loaves every Sabbath morning, from October to May.

After the death of Mr. Whitbread, the sum of £500, instead of being laid out in stock, was, at the request of his son, the late Samuel Whitbread, Esq., allowed to remain in his hands on the security of his bond, conditioned for the investment of £980 Three Per Cent. Consols, being so much stock as the £500 would then purchase.

A bond, subject to the same condition, was executed about 1819 by William Henry Whitbread, Esq., eldest son of the late Samuel Whitbread, in lieu of the former bond.

The interest payable on the bond amounts to £29 8_s._ per annum, which is received regularly by the trustees of the Old Meeting, and is laid out by them in the purchase of quartern loaves, which are distributed at the meeting-house every Sabbath day, from May to October, among such poor persons of the congregation as the trustees select.

DRESSING A GRAVE WITH FLOWERS

William Benson Earle, Esq., of Grateley, Hampshire, England, who died in 1796, gave three hundred guineas to the rector, churchwardens, and overseers of Grateley, in trust, to invest the same in their joint names, and expend half the interest thereof at Christmas, and the other half at Easter, in the purchase of the best ox-beef and cheese, together with potatoes or peas, or both, to be distributed in just proportions, at their discretion, among the poorest families in that parish, but nowhere else. And he requested that one guinea of the annual interest should be given yearly to the clerk of the parish, so long as he should cleanse and repair with flowers in the different seasons, as had before been done, the bed over the remains of Dame Joanna Elton, in the churchyard of Grateley.

BREAD FOR THE POOR

The Rev. Mr. Pitt, an English clergyman, directed sixty penny loaves to be given to the poor of St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate, yearly, on Whit Sunday, by eight o’clock in the morning, upon his tomb, in the burying-ground, in Old Bethlem.

BLUECOAT BOYS AND PACKETS OF RAISINS

In accordance with the will of Peter Symonds, dated 1586, sixty of the younger boys of Christ’s Hospital, London, attend divine service at the Church of Allhallows, Lombard-street, on Good Friday, and are presented each with a new penny, a bun, and a packet of raisins.

A FIXED PRICE FOR CORN AND WINE

A citizen of Berne, Switzerland, left this unusual will: