Mysterious directions in wills are sometimes to be met with which only a knowledge of the inner family history can explain; such as the direction in the will of the late Countess of Loudoun, the half-sister of the last Marquis of Hastings: “After my death I direct my right hand to be cut off, and buried in Donnington Park, at the bend of the hill towards the Trent, with this mottoe over it, ‘I byde my tyme.’” This direction was faithfully carried out by the lady’s husband, and the monument can now be seen in Donnington Park, in England.
An Epitaph
There was a certain missionary who was killed in India by an attendant. His epitaph reads:
Killed by an attendant.
———
Well done, thou good and
faithful servant.
Two Wives “Seven Foot” in Length
The will of John Wilcocks, of Chipping, Wycomb, England, 5th July, 1506. “My body to be buried in the Church of All Hallondon on Wye, before the rood. To the repair of our Lady’s Chapel of my grant xxiiis. ivd., I Will that my executors pay the charge of new glazing the window in the said Chapel; also I Will that an obit be kept yearly; I Will that my executors buy a marble stone to lay on my grave, with the picture of my two wives of vii foot in length, the stone mentioning her sons Thomas and Michael Wilcocks. I appoint Walter, my son, my executor, and also Robert Ashebrooke and Robert Brampton, priests, and John Aley, my executors.”
Wanted no Mourning
Theodore James Ralli, of Paris, an artist, who died at Lausanne, Switzerland, on September 26th, 1909, left personal estate in the United Kingdom valued at £8055.
The testator left to his daughter, Ina, in addition to her compulsory portion in accordance with the law of France, his automobile and the contents of his studio not otherwise bequeathed; a sum of 5000 fr. to his friend, Mr. Hawkins; 15,000 fr. to the Société des Artistes Français, the income from which is to be awarded annually as a prize to be known as The Theodore Ralli Prize; to the Fine Arts Museum in Athens, all pictures of Greek subjects and framed studies in his studio; 5000 fr. to his model if she should still be in his service at the time of his death; and the residue of his property to his brothers, Spiridon and Manati, for life, with remainder to his daughter Ina.