Ancient, Curious, and Famous Wills

“Know all men by these presents, “that I, John Quincy Adams, of Quincy in the County of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Doctor of Laws, do make, ordain, publish and d...

“Most men are within a finger’s breadth of being mad; for if a man walk with his middle finger pointing out, folk will think him mad, but not so if it be his forefinger.”

Before quoting the will of the Marquis d’Aligre, we will recall a little incident of his life, which, though it serves to show his character, does not prepare us for the various...

“Let the world slide, let the world go, A fig for care, and a fig for woe! If I can’t pay, why I can owe, And death makes equal the high and low.”

The Mussulman claims that our forefather, Adam, left a will, and that seventy legions of angels brought him sheets of paper and quill pens, nicely nibbed, all the way from Parad...

An excellent treatise on the foibles of testators and the motives which prompt devises, legacies and bequests, is to be found in the work of William Hazlitt, “Table Talk or Orig...

It has been thought appropriate, within a brief space, to introduce into this work some general observations on the importance and preparation of wills. For that purpose, the fo...

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.”