THE STORY OF A WILL.

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 60, 5 November 1881, Page 120

THE STORY OF A WILL.

A Diminutive Domestic Drama. FOUNDED OX FACTS. " Muse not that I thus suddenly proceed. For what I will, I will, and there an end." " Founded on facts" is a phrase which usually excites in the mind of the reader a suspicion that the story he is about to peruse owes more than the average ju'oportion of its ingredients to the imagination of the writer. It is a warning to the reader to anticipate something more than ordinarily fictitious and sensational. It is, in short, like' the "perfectly genuine" Avhich vendors of quack nostrums attach to their most spurious compounds. In the story here presented, however, the phrase is used in a perfectly bona Jide sense. The characters are real, and not the airy creations of imagination, though from motives of delicacy it has been considered necessary to employ fictitious names. The' scene of the story is an Auckland suburb, but the lessons it teaches remain the same whether the scene were in Auckland or many thousand miles away. There is nothing extraordinary about a Avill ; it is a thing of every-day occurrence. Of the making of wills, like books, there is no end. Buteven in such commonplace things as Avills, as in many other of the events of domestic life, there is often an element of the tragic ; for has not the poet said that "Life's a tragedy." In the history of nearly all wills there is an clement of uncertainty, of expectation, and often of heavy disappointment, and the final denouement is alAvays preceded by a tragic event. Writers of fiction attach so much importance to wills that few of their stories are considered to be complete Avithout one, and the musty archives of Doctors' Commons contain the materials for whole libraries of romance. They are full of records of human hones and fears, of human aA-arice and cupidity, and they teach the vanity of .all human plans. The master-spirit, Dickens, has made a Avill the central incident in the plot of his great novel, " Bleak House." The story of this present will opens some twelve years ago. It begins, as the history of most wills docs, Avith a marriage. One of the parties to this marriage Avas an industrious tradesman, a Avidowcr, Avith a family of three daughters and two sons. The other Avas a Avidow, also Avith a family by her former marriage. She Avas a lady of education and accomplishments, earning an income sufficient for all her Avants by maintaining a young ladies seminary. The pair threw their Avorldly goods into one common stock, the lady contributing her furniture and effects, and some small savings. In course of time they prospered. Mrs Avas an excellent manager of the household, and- she devoted much of her time and talents to impartin"- accomplishments and educational refinement to" her daughters. Mr Avas an industrious, pushing tradesman,.and Avith such a helpmeet he was enabled to extend his business, and to make money. They rose in the Avorld, lived in comparative case' and affluence, gave their children an excellent education, and occupied a good social status. At the end of ten years Mr had amassed enough property to render it Avorth while to make a Avill. He made his Avife one of the three trustees, and bequeathed his worldly belongings in this Avay : — He divided his household furniture, plate, linen, china, chattels, and effects, which Avere of considerable value, equally betAveen his Avife and one daughter of his OAvn by his former marriage, whom avc Avill call Miss A., reserving £25 to another daughter, 8., also by his former marriage. The rest of the property was to be divided in manner folloAving : — £so Avas to be paid in cash to his widow ou his decease, and £500 Avas to be invested for her as a life interest. To one of her daughters ancl a son by her former marriage he bequeathed £25 each. To his third daughter by his former marriage, call her C, he gave a life interest in £350. To his daughter A., who had, as explained above, half the furniture and household effects, he gave £500 to be in-A-ested for her benefit ; and to his daughter, 8., £4.00 in the same Avay. The sums were to be

severally invested in freehold securities, and the interest paid to the legatees. ■ Any residue, afterpayment of these bequests and all just debts, Avas to be divided between his tAvo sons by a former marriage, D. and E. Having thus, like a prudent business man, and provident parent, set his house in order, he went on the even tenor of his way. But from causes Avhich ought not to be minutely entered into here for the sake of the living as avcll as out of respect to the good old saying Avhich Plutarch attributes to Solon : "De mortuis nil nisi bonum," the making of that will cast the first shadoAV of \mhappiness across the threshold of the erstwhile tranquil home, so true it is, and Avill be .until the end of time, that money is the root of all evil. Mr became a prey to fits of temper, and variation of purpose, and some little family jars of a mild type ensued amongst the children. \ At length the time arrived Avhen Miss B. wa§ to go away to a distant toAvn to be married. Her mother Avas to accompany her. Miss A. Avas earnestly and repeatedly pressed to make one of the party, but as firmly declined. The time came for departure. The usual leaA'e-takings Avere over. Mrs and Miss B. stood on the deck of the steamer, and made a final endeavour to induce Miss A. to accompany them. She again declined. " You little cat .'" These three Avords Avere uttered by Miss B. as the steamer cast off. They Avere AA-ords lightly uttered,and perhaps regretted in the next moment. But those three Avords cost probably £100 each, if not more. " Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." It boots not to tell lioav those Avords rankled in the mind of Miss A. When she poured her sorrenvs into the ears of Mr , they found a sympathising listener, for she Avas the ewe-lamb of the household. A feAV days later he revoked his former will, substituting for Mrs ■, as one of the trustees, the name of a young man whom avc -will call Mr F., Avho had been courting Miss A. for some eighteen months, and to Avhom she Avas engaged to be married. Instead of bequeathing half the furniture and effects to his wife, she Avas to have only that Avhich she had brought into the house at marriage, nearly the Avhole going to Miss A., the favourite daughter. The £500 bequeathed as a life interest to Mrs — — Avas reduced to £300, the balance of £200 also going to Miss A., £100 of it to be paid to her for her sole use, free from the debts, control, and engagement of the husband to whom she Avas shortly to he married, and the other £100 to be invested for her benefit. In short, the favourite daughter's portion was increased to £700, in addition to nearly the whole of the furniture, plate, linen, and effects. The other bequests under the will Avere left undisturbed. In the midst of the Avedding festivities Mrs — and her neAvly Avedded daughter Avere not a little puzzled and troubled by the receipt of several ominously Avordcd telegrams from Mr , and finally Mrs received a peremptory letter ordering her to return to her home. In the meantime, however, a codicil had" been added to the second will revoking the bequest of £25 each to the son and daughter of Mrs by her former marriage, and transferring the £50 to the fortunate Miss A., Avho Avas uoav married to Mr F., thus increasing her pecuniary interest in the -will to £750. A feAV days after Mrs returned, Mr , being apprised of facts of Avhich he had been ignorant, informed her of the nature of the neAv will, regretted its injustice, and expressed his intention of altering it as soon as possible. But he Avas suddenly struck down by a fatal illness. In his last moments, while consciousness still lingered,and the hand of death Avas stretched over him, his lawyer, having heard of the second Avill, and the Avish to recall it, visited Mr in order to revoke the will. And here the moral of this little domestic drama comes in, telling of the uncertainty of human life, and the irrevocableness of earthly acts Avhen death knocks at the door. Alas !it Avas too late ! The lawyer came to the bedside. Nothing Avas wanting but a stroke of ink to revoke the former -will and to do a final act of justice, but the nerveless hand Avas benumbed Avith death, and could not hold the pen. " Death finds us 'mid our play-things— snatches us, As a cross nurse might do a wayward child, Prom all our toys and baubles. His rough call Unlooses all our favourite ties on earth ; And well if they are such as may be answer'd In yonder world, where all is judged of truly." The simple story is ended. Whether - the favourite daughter and her husband did that justice to the Avidow which the dead man woidd undoubtedly have done had he been a little longer spared, must be reserved for the sequel.