To be apprised1 of the approach of death, to have the leisure quietly to retire, to make his will, and to retreat in peace, was the good fortune of the famous Bill Blinder. “This here lantern, mum,” said Mr. Weller, handing it to the housekeeper3, “vunce belonged to the celebrated4 Bill Blinder as is now at grass, as all on us vill be in our turns. Bill, mum, wos the hostler as had charge o’ them two vell-known piebald leaders that run in the Bristol fast coach, and would never go to no other tune2 but a sutherly vind and a cloudy sky, which wos consekvently played incessant5, by the guard, wenever they wos on duty. He wos took wery bad one arternoon, arter having been off his feed, and wery shaky on his legs for some veeks; and he says to his mate, ‘Matey,’ he says, ‘I think I’m a-goin’ the wrong side o’ the post, and that my foot’s wery near the bucket. Don’t say I ain’t,’ he says, ‘for I know I am, and [Pg 188] don’t let me be interrupted,’ he says, ‘for I’ve saved a little money, and I’m a-goin’ into the stable to make my last will and testymint.’ ‘I’ll take care as nobody interrupts,’ says his mate, ‘but you on’y hold up your head, and shake your ears a bit, and you’re good for twenty years to come.’ Bill Blinder makes him no answer, but he goes avay into the stable, and there he soon artervards lays himself down a’tween the two piebalds and dies—previously a writin’ outside the corn-chest, ‘This is the last vill and testymint of Villiam Blinder.’ They wos nat’rally wery much amazed at this, and arter lookin’ among the litter, and up in the loft6, and vere not, they opens the corn-chest, and finds that he’d been and chalked his vill inside the lid, so the lid was obligated to be took off the hinges, and sent up to Doctors’ Commons to be proved, and under that ere wery instrument this here lantern was passed to Tony Veller; vich circumstarnce mum, gives it a wally in my eyes, and makes me rekvest, if you will be so kind, as to take partickler care on it.”
Dean Cheyney, it will be remembered, made an addendum9 to his will, “Now about to go to London, in case I never return.” It was a natural precaution, but the Dean, as has been noticed, was haunted by the sense of his mortality. More natural was it to make a will when about to go to the wars. The earliest form of Roman will was, in fact, that made in procinctu or on the eve of battle. English wills have frequently [Pg 189] been made on the eve of an engagement or a war. So Ralph Gascoigne, of Wheldale (1522), makes his will “intending to go to the King’s wars when it shall please his grace,” and Walter Paslew, of Riddlesden “intending by the grace of God, according to the King’s commandment, by his letters to me directed shortly to take my journey toward the Scots for the defence of the realm of England.” Captain James Ableson (1665) declares his “true intent ... in case it should please God he should be slain,” and James Rookes (1665) “being a single man and likely to go through a deep engagement very suddenly, knowing not how it will please God to deal with me.” So Captain Crawley, at a critical moment in “Vanity Fair,” busies himself with his will.
Of peculiar10 interest is the will of Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Thomas, made on the eve of a duel11: “London, 3rd September, 1783. I am now called upon, and, by the rules of what is called honour, forced into a personal interview of the most serious kind with Colonel Cosmo Gordon: God only can know the event, and into His hands I commit myself, conscious only of having done my duty. I therefore declare this to be my last will and testament12, and do hereby revoke13 all former wills.... In the first place I commit my soul to Almighty14 God, in hopes of His mercy and pardon for the irreligious step I now (in compliance15 with the unwarrantable customs of a wicked world) feel myself under the necessity of taking.” The will was proved eight days later. Lord [Pg 190] Viscount Falkland, on the other hand, made his will when mortally wounded after a duel at Chalk Farm in 1809.
One of the most strange and beautiful wills in the pages of romance is that of Cornelius Van Baerle, hero of “The Black Tulip.” There wants barely an hour before he is to be led to execution, and Rosa, the jailer’s daughter, is with him in the cell. “On this day, the 23rd of August, 1672, being about to render, although innocent, my soul to God on the scaffold, I bequeath to Rosa Gryphus the only worldly goods which have remained to me of all that I have possessed16 in this world, the rest having been confiscated17; I bequeath, I say, to Rosa Gryphus three bulbs, which I am convinced must produce, in the next May, the Grand Black Tulip, for which a prize of a hundred thousand guilders has been offered by the Haarlem Society, requesting that she may be paid the same sum in my stead, as my sole heiress, under the only condition of her marrying a respectable young man of about my age, who loves her, and whom she loves, and of her giving the grand black tulip, which will constitute a new species, the name of Rosa Barl?ensis, that is to say, her name and mine combined.
“So may God grant me mercy; and to her health and long life.”
But lovers of romance remember how the prisoner lived to fulfil the conditions of his own will, and himself to marry his well-loved legatee. [Pg 191]
Wills are frequently made before an operation. A Birmingham doctor recently opened his will thus: “This is the last will and testament of me Alexander Bottle ... being about to undergo a surgical18 operation.” Miss Ellen Morrison, who died in 1910, seventy-five years of age, had made no will when illness seized her and an operation became imperative19. All through the night before the operation the disposal of three millions of money was her care. But we are trespassing20 on a subject which has already been illustrated21.
The will of Dirk Jager, written in German, adduces in addition to the prospect22 of a journey some general considerations. It is dated March 2, 1769. “In the Name of the most holy and glorious Trinity, Amen. Whereas daily experience sufficiently23 sheweth that all men are subject to temporal death, and thus also I who was born a mortal man in this world being of nothing more certain than the expectation of death of which the hour is not revealed to any, but every man ought to be continually mindful of the time when Almighty God should call him out of the world, I therefore, intending to travel from this place St. Petersburg considering the various accidents that may happen and reflecting seriously that all men are as nothing, being in health and of sound mind, of my own free will without any compulsion and deliberately24 and to avoid all disputes after my death, which is in the hands of the [Pg 192] Almighty, have made this my present testament of my last will for the disposing of the worldly goods which God has graciously granted to me.”
Such general prefaces have almost entirely25 disappeared from modern wills, but they were formerly26 a notable feature. It might be imagined that some justification27 was needed if a man intended to make his will. They are often beautiful, and sometimes quaint28. Their primitive29 form is simple. Henry Birchmore, who died in 1683, makes his will “considering the frailty30 of this transitory life that there is nothing more certain than that we must die and nothing more uncertain than the time and hour when.” John Hall in 1739 begins thus: “I John Hall, now mariner31 belonging to his Majesty’s ship Princess Amelia riding at Portsmouth, Captain John Hemington commander, and not knowing how it may please God to deal with me on the seas or land, but considering the uncertainty32 of this present transitory life, do make and declare these presents to contain my last will and testament in manner and form following; that is to say, first and principally I commend my soul unto the hands of Almighty God hoping to be saved through the merit death passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ my only Saviour33, and my body to the earth or sea as it shall please God.” And Margaret Greenaway (March 19, 1630) gives as her justification “being weak in body, but in perfect mind and memory, laud34 and praise be to Almighty God, and knowing for certain that I must die in a time uncertain and unknown, and that the [Pg 193] commandment of the Lord unto the king of Jud?a was to put his house in order is a mandate35 to me and to all people in general: therefore for avoiding and prevention of all strife36 and dissension that may hereafter in any wise arise for touching37 or concerning anything that is now mine I think it my duty while I do enjoy the faculties38 of my soul to dispose of those things that the Lord and giver of all things hath been pleased to lend unto me.”
Of peculiar interest are the wills, written in French and recorded in the original language, of refugees who escaped from France because of their religion and formed a colony at Canterbury. In the crypt of the Cathedral services are still held in French each Sunday. These wills, with a pathos39 all their own, follow the common custom of such prefaces. “Au Nom de Dieu, Amen. Moy Marie Michée, veuve de défunct Jean Fouquet de la Cité de Canterbury, réfugiée pour la religion réformée, considerant en moy mesme qu’il n’y a rien de plus certain que la mort ny rien de plus incertain que l’heure dicelle ... ay faict mon testament.” (Dated September 13, 1727, and proved on the 21st.) The following was dated in June, 1720, and proved in December, 1722. “Au Nom de Dieu, Amen. Connoissez que par8 devant moi Salaman Gilles, greffier de la congregation des Wallons qui font leur demeure en la cité de Canterbury, et notaire public pour les dits Wallons et pour tous autres estrangers, établi à cette fin7 et juré par devant messieurs [Pg 194] le mayre et les juges de paix de laditte cité de Canterbury en la province de Kent ... fut présent en sa personne honnête homme Isaac Magnié lequel ... a declaré vouloir faire son testament et établir sa dernière volonté en la manière qui suit.... Je Isaac Magnié, demeurant in Northlane sur la parroisse de Westgate, estant par la grace de Dieu dans mon aaje déjà avancée sain de corps40 et d’esprit, mais estant bien persuadé que la mort est ordonnée a tous hommes et que l’on ne scait ny l’heure ny le moment que l’on mourra, et voulant laisser ma famille en paix et en concorde ensemble41 autant qu’il m’est possible, ay résolu de faire mon testament en la manière suivante.”
These are all simple cases: but preambles42 far more elaborate are frequently found. Thomas Penistone (dated August 20, and proved September 5, 1601), after the fervent43 introduction which has been quoted, thus continues: “Sithence nothing in this world is more certain to man than death, nor anything more uncertain than the time of death, after due consideration of the frailty of this fleeting44 life even in the youngest and strongest persons, and that by the dying intestate of divers45 upon vain hope of longer life great discord46, yea utter ruin, befalleth their children and posterities, in that in their life time no distribution is made of their substance amongst their posterity47, but that the same is left to such as by force or deceit can obtain the same, and considering in the time of sickness oftentimes a man’s mind, [Pg 195] which then ought only to be conversant48 in divine meditation49, is so grieved with the pang50 of his disease that he is disable (how willing soever) in any good sort to remember and provide for wife children and friends according to his ability: upon these motives51 I Thomas Penistone, of Saint Margaret’s near the City of Rochester, in the County of Kent, Esquire, aged52 three and thirty years or thereabout, being in perfect mind and memory, (thanks be given to Almighty God therefor,) do ordain53 and make this my last will and testament in manner and form following.”
From the same year one other example may be given. “In the Name of God, Amen. Forasmuch as the state of man hath no perpetual dwelling54 within the carnal body, but is separable from it at the will and pleasure of Almighty God at His time appointed, which time is always uncertain, requisite55 expedient56 and most necessary it is that every Christian57 man prepare and make himself ready at all times to leave the same, so that whensoever he shall be called for he be not found sleeping and unprepared: therefore the ninth day of August, a.d. 1601, and in the three and fortieth year of the reign58 of our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth, by the grace of God Queen of England France and Ireland, Defender59 of the Faith, I Nicholas Scott, citizen and grocer of London, being of perfect mind and memory, laud and praise be therefore given to Almighty God, and intending by His grace to prepare and make myself ready to go forward in the universal journey of all flesh, do make and [Pg 196] declare this my last will and testament concerning the disposition60 of all and singular my goods chattels61 lands tenements62 and hereditaments whatsoever63.”
Upon this basis the changes are rung in will after will, and not the least curious and elaborate pages of literature may be discovered in this mode.
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1
apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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addendum
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| n.补充，附录 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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revoke
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| v.废除，取消，撤回 | |
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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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trespassing
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| [法]非法入侵 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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frailty
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| n.脆弱；意志薄弱 | |
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mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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laud
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| n.颂歌；v.赞美 | |
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mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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ensemble
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| n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果 | |
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preambles
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| n.序( preamble的名词复数 )；绪言；（法令、文件等的）序文；前言 | |
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43
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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49
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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50
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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51
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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52
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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53
ordain
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| vi.颁发命令；vt.命令，授以圣职，注定，任命 | |
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54
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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55
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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56
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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58
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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60
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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61
chattels
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| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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