Wills were usually signed before several witnesses, who put seals to them for confirmation, then placed them in the hands of trustees, who were obliged to see them performed. At Athens, some of the magistrates were very often present at the making of wills. Sometimes the _archons_ were also present. Sometimes the testator declared his will before sufficient witnesses, without committing it to writing. Thus Callias, fearing to be cut off by a wicked conspiracy, is said to have made an open declaration of his will before the popular assembly at Athens. There were several copies of wills in Diogenes Laertius, as those of Aristotle, Lycon, and Theophrastus; whence it appears they had a common form, beginning with a wish for life and health. The most ancient testaments among the Romans were made _vivâ voce_, the testator declaring his will in the presence of seven witnesses; these they called _nuncupative_ testaments; but the danger of trusting the will of the dead to the memory of the living soon abolished these; and all testaments were ordered to be in writing. The Romans were wont to set aside testaments, as being _inofficiosa_, deficient in natural duty, if they disinherited or totally passed by (without assigning a true and sufficient reason) any of the children of the testator. But if the child had any legacy, though ever so small, it was a proof that the testator had not lost his memory nor his reason, which otherwise the law presumed. Hence probably (says Blackstone) has arisen that groundless, vulgar error of the necessity of leaving the heir a shilling, or some other express legacy, in order to effectually disinherit him; whereas the law of England, though the heir, or next of kin, be totally omitted, admits no _querela inofficiosa_, to set aside such testament. Alfred the Great made a will, wherein he declared, in express terms, that it was just the English should be as free as their own thoughts. P.T.W. * * * * * THE COSMOPOLITE. DANCING. _(For the Mirror.)_ Dancing is defined to be "to move in measure; to move with steps correspondent to the sound of instruments." But there are other species of dancing--as -----------------for three long months To _dance attendance_ for a word of audience: and to dance with pain, or when, as Lord Bacon says, "in pestilences, the malignity of the infecting vapour danceth the principal spirits." The _Chorea S. Viti_, or _St. Vitus's Dance_ is another variation, said to have once prevailed extensively, and to have been cured by a prayer to this saint! whose martyrdom is commemorated on June 15. It may not be generally known that a person afflicted with this species of dancing can _run_, although he cannot walk or stand still. Another and a more agreeable species is to _lead the dance_, an unjust usurpation which is practised in a thousand other places beside the ball-room.