Mr. Jerome K. Jerome, after months of study, inspired by a determination to get to the bottom of Stage law, mentions among the few points on which he is at all clear, the following: That if a man dies without leaving a will, then all his property goes to the nearest villain. But that if a man dies and leaves a will, then all his property goes to whoever can get possession of that will. MUST NOT REMARRY “Iris,” in one of Pinero’s plays of the same name, is a beautiful young widow of twenty-one. She finds herself much hampered by the terms of her husband’s will, which deprives her of its benefits if she remarries. Such a provision is in law perfectly legal and its use much indulged in by dying husbands, but whether wisely or justly is a matter of serious doubt. “THE THUNDERBOLT” Pinero’s latest play, “The Thunderbolt,” is a study of the manners and respectability of the middle-class of England. The play was not received with favor in London, but has been granted a hearing by the “New Theatre” of New York, and by competent judges is said to be the masterpiece of its author. The play is based on a stolen will: the first act shows a family gathered around the bier of Edward Mortimore, who had accumulated wealth in the brewing of beer, which, during his life, was regarded by his family as rather a disreputable business. There is absent from the gathering, only one interested person, and that is an illegitimate daughter, Helen Thornhill, who is an art student in Paris. Helen arrives and is much surprised that her father has not remembered her, for the announcement is made that he left no will; and she wishes that “every ill that’s conceivable” should come upon the heads of those who will inherit. It quickly develops, however, that the father did leave a will, in these words: “I leave everything I die possessed of to Helen Thornhill, spinster, absolutely, and she is to be my sole executrix.” A confession discloses the fact that the will has been destroyed by Phyllis, wife of Thaddeus, a brother of the testator. Helen refuses to bring disgrace on the family by a prosecution, and a compromise is effected, by which she receives a substantial portion of the estate. DICKENS A WILL-MAKER Dickens was a great will-maker. We know that if Dick Swiveller had been a steadier youth he would have inherited more than one hundred and fifty pounds a year from his Aunt Rebecca. The loyal-hearted lover, Mr. Barkis, made Peggotty his residuary legatee. The litigation in Jarndyce _v._ Jarndyce arose out of a disputed will. The various wills left by old Harmon in “Our Mutual Friend” bring about no end of complications, there being at least three wills in existence at one time, and each one believed by the person discovering it to be the final will.