Curiosities of Olden Times
Julius Cæsar; but on hearing what Cæsar's will promises, how
To every Roman citizen he gives,—
To every several man,—seventy-five drachmas.
His private arbours, and new-planted orchards.
On this side Tiber: he hath left them you,
And to your heirs for ever;——
then the mob changes note, and with one voice shouts, "To Brutus, to Cassius;—burn all!"
Testamenta hominum speculum esse morum vulgo creditur.—Plin. jun., 8 Ess. 18.
So they are! They are the last touch of the brush in the great picture of civilisation, manners, and customs, lightening it up.
Would that space permitted me to enter into the history of wills: a few curious particulars alone can we admit.
To die without having made a will was formerly regarded with horror. A very common custom in the Middle Ages was that of leaving considerable benefactions to the Church. This was well enough, but the clergy were not satisfied until it was made compulsory.
Ducange says that neglect of leaving to the Church indicated a profanity which deserved punishment by a refusal of the rites of the last sacraments and burial. The clergy of Brittany, in the fourteenth century, claimed a third of the household goods; the death-bed became ecclesiastical property in the
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