“He premises his wish and his purpose to save All dispute among friends when he’s laid in his grave; Then he straightway proceeds more disputes to create Than a long summer’s day would give time to relate. He writes and erases, he blunders and blots, He produces such puzzles and Gordian knots, That a lawyer, intending to frame the thing ill, Couldn’t match the testator who makes his own will. ... You had better pay toll when you take to the road, Than attempt by a by-way to reach your abode; You had better employ a conveyancer’s hand, Than encounter the risk that your will shouldn’t stand. From the broad beaten track, when the traveler strays, He may land in a bog, or be lost in a maze; And the law, when defied, will avenge itself still, On the man and the woman who make their own will.” For reproduction of this quaint poem in full, see, Harris, Ancient Wills, p. 209. [65] Harris, Ancient Wills, p. 67. [66] Harris, Ancient Wills, p. 67. [67] _Ante idem._ 68. [68] Harris, Ancient Wills, p. 64. [69] Harris, Ancient Wills, pp. 49, 62. This bequest of Francois Villon, may have suggested to Mr. Williston Fish of Chicago, the “Insane Man’s Will,” published in Harper’s Weekly, in 1898, wherein he makes an imaginary will that has become a classic in English literature, among the bequests being “all good little words of praise and encouragement,” to good fathers and mothers, in trust for their children; to children, subject to the rights of lovers, he devises, the flowers, the banks of brooks, the blossoms of the woods, the golden sands and waters of the brooks, the white clouds floating high over the giant trees and the Milky Way, to wonder at, at night; to lovers, he devises the imaginary world, with the stars in the sky, the red roses by the wall, the sweet strains of music and all else by which they may figure to each other the lastingness and beauty of their love. To those no longer children or lovers, he bequeaths the pleasures of sweet memories, the poems of Burns and Shakespeare and other poets, and to those with snowy crowns he leaves the happiness of old age, with the love and gratitude of their children, until they fall asleep. [70] “The Kasidah.” INDEX. _References are to Pages_ A Abjuration, in case of sanctuary, 250. Adonijah, sanctuary claimed by, 245, 246. Adulteress, lost dower, in England, 26. Agrippina, her marriage to Claudius, 18. Alcibiades, recall of, 83. Alexander III., decree concerning consent marriages, 22. Alfred, administration of justice under, 89, 90. Alfred, jury trials under, 151. Alfred, sanctuary under, 251. Alfred, wager of law, under, 197. Amber witch, 71. Ancient punishments (see punishment), 273, 306. Anglo-Saxon courts, 90. Anglo-Saxon law against witchcraft, 49. Anglo-Saxon wills, 312. Anglo-Saxons, judicial recall under, 88, 90. Anglo-Saxons, recognized sale-marriages, 20.