“‘Preterit ista dies origo secundi An labor, an requies; sic transit gloria mundi. Like as the day hys cours doeth consume And the new morrow spryngith agayn as fast, So man and woman by naturys costume This lyfe doo pass and last in erth ar cast In joye and sorrowe in whiche here theyr tyme did wast Never in oon state but in co’s transitorey Soo full of chaunge is of this worlde the glory.’ “And before upon the said tumbys border I will be written these words following: “‘Tumulus Roberti Fabyan dudum pannarius ac Aldermannus London qui obiit.... Fevr....’” The above directions were to be followed in the event of the testator’s dying and being buried “within the Citye of London,” but if buried in the church of Heydon Earnon, the grave is to be much more elaborately decorated, according to instructions further given to his executors, who can have had no sinecure, for this same alderman-draper seems to have been possessed of considerable landed and other property. * * * * * We find it throughout all these earlier wills the custom to bequeath not only beds with all their furniture, but wearing apparel, which in those days were so costly as to be considered valuable heirlooms; probably also the fashion of these articles did not undergo such rapid changes as in our own day. AN EXACTING AND PECULIAR WILL After an eventful life as soldier, linguist, “rain-maker,” Deputy Commissioner of Patents, man of affairs, and wealthy patent attorney, Robert G. Dryenforth, of Washington, D.C., died July 4, 1910. His will is one of the most unusual instruments ever offered for probate in the United States: his estate is a large one and is left to an eight-year-old foster son, Robert St. George Dryenforth, subject to conditions of a remarkable character: The lad is to get practically the entire estate--provided he conscientiously complies with all conditions--when he reaches the age of twenty-eight. Robert St. George will be busily occupied for the intervening twenty years in complying with conditions. Here are some of them. He must not associate with one Jennie Dryenforth or her daughter, Rose Marie Knowlton. Should he do so, the estate goes to William H., Harold and Robert Dryenforth, who are named as executors. The above-named executors will also share the estate in the event Robert St. George thoughtlessly dies before he reaches the given age. The boy must be trained right from the start to shy at the wiles of women. If he must marry, he must not marry beneath him. The will says: “I particularly request my executors to thoughtfully and well guard my beloved son from women, and sensibly, that is, gradually, through no erratic extreme, to let him be informed and know the artful and parasitical nature of most of the unfortunate sex, and to care that he does not marry beneath him.”