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Article ON THE PROPRIETY OF MAKING A WILL. Page 1 of 5 →
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On The Propriety Of Making A Will.
ON THE PROPRIETY OF MAKING A WILL .
TO THE EDITOR . SIR , OF all the duties incumbent on men to perform as members ofsociety , I can scarcely name one in which they err more egregious ! }' , than in the disposal of their property by will . From the great number
of absurd wills , that are every day produced at the Bank and other public offices , for the transfer of testamentary property , one would be tempted to irrjagine that , besides the sentence ' to die , ' there was a time appointed for all men to play the fool , and contradict every opinion of their wisdom or common sense , Avhich had been formed during their lives . In most nations men enjoyas a sacred rihtthe privilege
, g , of disposing of their property by will ; and it is very singular that men of ackiiOAvledged or supposed good understanding , should do so much to bring into disrepute a privilege , which the common consent of the public has fully recognized ; yet this they do in various Avays . ' Of wills properly ma 4 . e , it is not necessary here to speak : of those which come under another descriptionthere are several kinds . There
, are cruel wills and Ayhimsical ones . In the first , a total disregard is paid to the obligations of kindred , affection , and merit : a family that have lived in splendour , and who consider themselves as in part heirs to the continuation of it , are left very often destitute of the
necessaries of life , and very ill provided with any means , or resources , to enable them to support such a reverse of fortune , or to re-enter the world in a different character from that in which they appeared before . In Avhimsical wills Ave find that property , which mig ht have been use fully extended among the circles p f industry and indigence , left entirely to some worthless , and perhaps to some inanimate object : a dog , or a cat has often inherited Avhat Avould haye assisted a distressed family
, and sums have been left to erect monuments , which perpetuated the vanity of those on whom they coijld confer no fame . ' But when we consider the nature of wills , in which cruel , unjust , and whimscial or absurd dh'isions of property are made , "" a question very naturally arises ; how can all this be reconciled with the' vanity of mankind , and with their desire to qbtairj and perpetuate a good report
among their felloAV creatures ? Is it not strange , that a man who hao for a long life so demeaned himself as to obtain (\ vhat surely it is the wish of most men to obtain ) the character of a just * kind , and Avise ; member of society ; I say , is it not strange that such a man should at once , with a few strokes of his pen , destroy , all" this reputation ^ and cancel every obligation which liis , friends or his . fello . Av citizens OAved tq him ? That a miser should leave his possessions to build an hospital , or a Avicked man to found a reli gious seminary , are things not to be wondered at . The former may hpe thought that he can tto more good
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Propriety Of Making A Will.
ON THE PROPRIETY OF MAKING A WILL .
TO THE EDITOR . SIR , OF all the duties incumbent on men to perform as members ofsociety , I can scarcely name one in which they err more egregious ! }' , than in the disposal of their property by will . From the great number
of absurd wills , that are every day produced at the Bank and other public offices , for the transfer of testamentary property , one would be tempted to irrjagine that , besides the sentence ' to die , ' there was a time appointed for all men to play the fool , and contradict every opinion of their wisdom or common sense , Avhich had been formed during their lives . In most nations men enjoyas a sacred rihtthe privilege
, g , of disposing of their property by will ; and it is very singular that men of ackiiOAvledged or supposed good understanding , should do so much to bring into disrepute a privilege , which the common consent of the public has fully recognized ; yet this they do in various Avays . ' Of wills properly ma 4 . e , it is not necessary here to speak : of those which come under another descriptionthere are several kinds . There
, are cruel wills and Ayhimsical ones . In the first , a total disregard is paid to the obligations of kindred , affection , and merit : a family that have lived in splendour , and who consider themselves as in part heirs to the continuation of it , are left very often destitute of the
necessaries of life , and very ill provided with any means , or resources , to enable them to support such a reverse of fortune , or to re-enter the world in a different character from that in which they appeared before . In Avhimsical wills Ave find that property , which mig ht have been use fully extended among the circles p f industry and indigence , left entirely to some worthless , and perhaps to some inanimate object : a dog , or a cat has often inherited Avhat Avould haye assisted a distressed family
, and sums have been left to erect monuments , which perpetuated the vanity of those on whom they coijld confer no fame . ' But when we consider the nature of wills , in which cruel , unjust , and whimscial or absurd dh'isions of property are made , "" a question very naturally arises ; how can all this be reconciled with the' vanity of mankind , and with their desire to qbtairj and perpetuate a good report
among their felloAV creatures ? Is it not strange , that a man who hao for a long life so demeaned himself as to obtain (\ vhat surely it is the wish of most men to obtain ) the character of a just * kind , and Avise ; member of society ; I say , is it not strange that such a man should at once , with a few strokes of his pen , destroy , all" this reputation ^ and cancel every obligation which liis , friends or his . fello . Av citizens OAved tq him ? That a miser should leave his possessions to build an hospital , or a Avicked man to found a reli gious seminary , are things not to be wondered at . The former may hpe thought that he can tto more good