being inconsiderable and of none account, I make no disposition of in this, my will. My right to live, being but a life estate, is not at my disposal, but these things excepted, all else in the world I now proceed to devise and bequeath. Item: I give to good fathers and mothers, in trust for their children, all good little words of praise and encouragement, and all quaint pet names and endearments, and I charge said parents to use them justly, but generously, as the needs of their children shall require. Item: I leave to children inclusively, but only for the term of their childhood, all and every, the flowers of the fields, and the blossoms of the woods, with the right to play among them freely according to the customs of children, warning them at the same time against thistles and thorns. And I devise to children the banks of the brooks and the golden sands beneath the waters thereof, and the odors of the willows that dip therein and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees. And I leave to children the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways, and the night, and the moon, and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at but subject, nevertheless, to the rights hereinafter given to lovers. Item: I devise to boys, jointly, all the useful, idle fields and commons where ball may be played; all pleasant waters where one may swim; all snowclad hills where one may coast; and all streams and ponds where one may fish, or where, when grim winter comes, one may skate, to have and to hold these same for the period of their boyhood. And all meadows, with the clover blossoms and butterflies thereof; the woods with their appurtenances, the squirrels and the birds and echoes and strange noises, and all distant places which may be visited, together with the adventures there found. And I give to said boys each his own place at the fireside at night, with all the pictures that may be seen in the burning wood, to enjoy without let or hindrance, and without any encumbrance of care. Item: To lovers, I devise their imaginary world with whatever they may need, as the stars of the sky, the red roses by the wall, the bloom of the hawthorn, the sweet A LAWYER'S WILL 295 strains of music, and aught else they may desire to figure to each other the lastingness and beauty of their love. Item: To young men, jointly, I devise and bequeath all boisterous, inspiring sports of rivalry, and I give to them the disdain of weakness and undaunted confidence in their own strength. Though they are rude, I leave to them the power to make lasting friendships, and of possessing companions, and to them exclusively, I give all merry songs and brave choruses to sing with lusty voices. Item: And to those who are no longer children, or youths, or lovers, I leave memory, and I bequeath to them the volumes of the poems of Burns and Shakespeare and of other poems, if there be others, to the end that they may live the old days over again, freely and fully without title or diminution. Item: To our loved ones with snowy crowns, I bequeath the happiness of old age, the love and gratitude of their children until they fall asleep. NOTES 1. Find from any lawyer the usual form of a will. 2. Find reasons why many wills are contested. 3. Find what becomes of real and personal property when one who owns such property dies without a will. 4. Be prepared to give meanings of the following words and expressions as here used: sound and disposing mind, testament, sheep-bound volumes, inconsiderable, in trust, quaint, endearments, inclusively, devise, Milky Way, appurtenances, without let or hindrance, encumbrance, undaunted confidence, lusty voices without title or diminution, snowy crowns. SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES 1. What is the purpose of a last will and testament? 2. Why should a lawyer be particular about the disposition of his property? 3. What disposition does Charles Lounsberry make of his "prop erty"? 4. How do you explain his indifference in this regard? 5. Of what other possession does he make no disposal? Why? 6. What does he give to fathers and mothers to be held in trust for their children? 7. What charge does he give the parents along with this bequest? 8. What does he leave to children inclusively? 9. Why is this bequest “only for the term of their childhood”? 10. Just what does he leave to boys jointly? Which of these things do boys value most highly? 11. Explain, “all the pictures that may be seen in the burning wood.” 12. What does he bequeath to lovers? 13. Why does he say, "aught else they may desire" etc.? 14. What does he give to young men, jointly? 15. What to him obscures the temporary rudeness in boys? 16. What does he leave, "to those who are no longer children, or youths, or lovers"? 17. Explain, "if there be others." 18. What is shown of the maker of the will in what he leaves, “to our loved ones with snowy crowns"? 19. Give a brief summary of what is disposed of in the will. 20. What shows the author's keen sympathy for children? His understanding of boys? His insight into lovers? His love and respect for grown-ups? 21. How much of this inheritance is every person entitled to share? 22. Why did the maker of the will want all people to enjoy these larger possessions? REFERENCES HUNT: Abou Ben Adhem. LOWELL: Vision of Sir Launfal. STEVENSON: The Lamplighter. WHITTIER: Riches of the Commonwealth. The Brother of Mercy. Foss, S. W.: The House by the Side of the Road. NAYLOR: Dr. John Goodfellow-Office Up-Stairs. DICKINSON: The Children. VAN DYKE: Fisherman's Luck Lovers and Landscapes. LONGFELLOW: The Legend Beautiful. The Children's Hour. POPE: The Universal Prayer. TUBAL CAIN CHARLES MACKAY UBAL'CAIN may well be regarded as the father of manual training. He was the son of Lamech2 and Zillah3 and as the Bible tells us (Gen. 4:22), "an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron." Josephus, in The Antiquities of the Jews, says: “But Tubal exceeded all men in strength, and was very expert and famous in martial performances, first of all invented the art of working brass." and The author has seized upon the suggestion contained in the above facts and constructed a poem which contains in brief the history of civilization. The hero is the personification of the race as it evolved from barbarism to civilization. "The sword and the spear" are relics of organized conquest when might made right. The "sudden change" that came over the heart of the old hero is but typical of a higher vision of the arts of peace that should be the fruits of conquest. The "plowshare" is but symbolic of industry and peace and the higher progress of civilization. The poem closes with a significant hint that war is still honorable when waged in defense of home and country and sacred rights. The poem is a splendid poetic illumination of the oft-quoted saying of Matthew Arnold: "Might, till right is ready." 1 Pronounced tü'bäl. 2 Pronounced la'měk. 3 Pronounced zĭl'å. TUBAL CAIN Old Tubal Cain was a man of might, In the days when the earth was young; By the fierce red light of his furnace bright, The strokes of his hammer rung; And he lifted high his brawny hand On the iron glowing clear, Till the sparks rushed out in scarlet showers, To Tubal Cain came many a one, And each one prayed for a strong steel blade And he made them weapons sharp and strong, And gave him gifts of pearl and gold, And they said, “Hurrah for Tubal Cain, Hurrah for the smith, hurrah for the fire, But a sudden change came o'er his heart And Tubal Cain was filled with pain He saw that men with rage and hate Made war upon their kind, That the land was red with the blood they shed In their lust for carnage blind. And he said, "Alas that ever I made, Or that skill of mine should plan, The spear and the sword for men whose joy |