Ancient, Curious, and Famous WillsHarris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
History
Ancient, Curious, and Famous Wills
Harris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
Wills
PIPE, TOBACCO AND MATCHES IN HIS COFFIN
Mr. Klaës, who was known among his acquaintances by the name of the
“King of Smokers,” died some years ago near Rotterdam. According to the
Belgian papers he had amassed a large fortune in the linen trade, and
had erected near Rotterdam a mansion, one portion of which was devoted
to the arrangement of a collection of pipes according to their
nationality and chronological order. A few days before his death he
summoned his lawyer, and made his will, in which he directed that all
the smokers of the country should be invited to his funeral, that each
should be presented with 10 lb. of tobacco and two Dutch pipes of the
newest fashion, on which should be engraved the name, arms and date of
the decease of the testator. He requested all his relatives, friends and
funeral guests to be careful to keep their pipes alight during the
funeral ceremonies, after which they should empty the ashes from their
pipes on the coffin. The poor of the neighborhood who attended to his
last wishes were to receive annually, on the anniversary of his death,
10 lb. of tobacco and a small cask of good beer. He desired that his oak
coffin should be lined with the cedar of his old Havana cigar boxes, and
that a box of French caporal and a packet of old Dutch tobacco should be
placed at the foot of his coffin. His favorite pipe was to be placed by
his side, along with a box of matches, a flint and steel, and some
tinder, as he said there was no knowing what might happen. A clever
calculator has made out that Mr. Klaës had, during his eighty years of
life, smoked more than four tons of tobacco, and had drunk about 500,000
quarts of beer.
THANKFULNESS TO GOD
In the codicil annexed to the last will of Robert North, Esq., of
Scarborough, England, proved in October, 1705, the following occurs:
“I give to Mrs. R. G. my English walnut bureau, made large to contain
clothes, but hope she will not forget when she makes use of it that
graces and virtues are a lady’s most ornamental dress; and that that
dress has this peculiar excellence, that it will last for ever and
improve by wearing.
“I give to Lieutenant W. M., my godson, my sword, and hope he will (if
ever occasion should require it) convince a rash world he has learnt to
obey his God as well as his general, and that he entertains too true a
sense of honour to admit anything into the character of a good soldier
which is inconsistent with the duty of a good Christian.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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