which "have gone to their long homes," and been consigned to the "tombs of all the Capulets"the cheesemongers' and tallow-chandlers' shops; but to avail themselves of the assistance of able

and professional men. Experience daily and wofully proves (for half of the litigation of the country owes its origin to this source) the truth of the old adage, that " It is dangerous meddling with edged tools," and of the no less sensible maxim, "That every man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client." The law is a difficult. and a profound science, and requires the period of a whole life to be expended in its service, and, as the golden calf of lawyers, Lord Coke, says, "the consumption of the midnight oil," before its votaries can pretend to a competent knowledge of its mysteries. It must, therefore, be evident to every unprofessional man, that he is incurring a great risk, and often putting in peril his whole property for the salvation of a few pounds, by acting in points of difficulty on his own judgement, and performing for himself the office of a scribe; the safer and the cheaper course is, therefore, to have recourse to professional men of ability and cha

racter.

3. Precautions to be attended to in making Wills. 1. When a person is desirous of making his will, he should be careful to give such a descrip

tion of himself as may avoid any confusion or uncertainty. This description is in law called his addition, and means the allegation of his christian and surname, his place of abode, trade, and occupation.* And he should be mindful to introduce the words "of sound and disposing mind;" for though they are not absolutely necessary to give effect to the will, yet the introduction of them is prudent and salutary; as the absence of this form of expression has often been a plea in the courts to invalidate the force and efficacy of the designations.

2. As, by the Stamp-Act, all debts owing by a deceased person must, if he has left sufficient funds for their payment, be included in the amount at which the will is proved, or for which letters of administration are granted; it is but a prudent measure for every person to leave as few debts as possible for his executors to pay. For though a return of the probate-duty paid on such debts is allowed on proper application at the Legacy-DutyOffice, a precaution of this kind may save much trouble and expense to the executors, and relieve them from perhaps the impossibility of showing that the debts were legally contracted, or of pro

* Women, who have never been married, use the addition of Spinster; widows that of Widow; which are sufficient, without mentioning any trade or business, though they may exercise such.

ducing legal vouchers and documents; in default of being able to do which, no return of duty is claimable.

3. Great care should be taken in properly describing the legatees. The law reports abound with strings of cases detailing the calamitous results of faulty and careless descriptions of the objects of testator's bounty or kindness.

4. Where a person making his will is desirousof leaving a legacy to a married woman, if he does not appoint trustees over the same, and give the most specific directions, that it shall be for her sole and separate use, free from the control, debts, and incumbrances of her husband, her husband, by virtue of the marital tie, will be entitled to the same. And in the case of an unmarried woman, the operation of law, as Dr. Kitchiner observes, will be the same in the event of her marriage, unless a like precaution be made by the testator.

5. If the testator wishes to leave a legacy of £20, or thereabouts, to any one, he should limit the legacy to the sum of £19: 19, as by so doing the bequest will be exempt from the legacy-duty. And in making a bequest of this sum, he should remember, that if he leaves any other property, a ring for instance, in a subsequent part of the will to the same legatee, he will thereby render the legacies subject to the legacy-duty, if the two legacies amount in value to the sum of £20.

6. If a testator leaves legacies, payable quarterly, half-yearly, or at any other specified period, he should remember that unless he leaves specific directions that they are to be paid free of the legacy-duty, the objects of his bounty will not, especially if they be advanced in years, receive much more than half of the legacy, if it does not exceed £20, and their lives fall in in the course of the first four years after the decease of the testator. For, by the Legacy-Act, the value of any legacy given by way of annuity, is to be calculated, and the duty charged thereon, according to certain tables in the schedule annexed to the act; and the duty so calculated is to be paid, by four equal annual payments, out of the first four annual payments of the annuity.

7. Where it is the misfortune of a testator to have natural children, we address him in the feeling and emphatic language of Dr. Kitchiner:—

"How shall I touch on the most powerful of all claims to our protection-the claims of him who, as the law expresses it, has no kindred-who is nullius filius-who has no protector but his reputed parent."

"A will made to provide for such natural child, and to exclude the pretensions of heirs-at-law, should," continues this humame and sensible writer, "be framed with the most careful attention; the testator must make every possible pre

caution to strengthen such an instrument; and in the description of such a child, it is adviseable to copy the register from the parish books where it was born and christened, and preserve the certificate thereof with the will. The legacy-duty charged on personal property left to a natural child is £10 per cent,-on freehold or copyhold nothing. This is well worthy the attention of those who have such children to provide for."

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8. Nor is the case of adopted children, brought up with all the ideas of genteel life, but left friendless and unprotected, by their patron or patroness dying without having made a will, less distressing. Perhaps mistaken benevolence drew them from the happy mansions of industry and frugality, and where they might have been trained to be useful and virtuous in their stations of life. But the improvident conduct of their mistaken benefactors has strewed their path, to a precipice, with roses; they are in the hapless condition of those "who cannot work, and to beg they are ashamed;" they are consigned to poverty which they cannot avert, and to stem which they are not able to encounter.

9. Dr. Kitchiner's recommendation, that every testator should transcribe and execute two or three copies of the original will, according as his property is either freehold or personal, is not undeserving of attention, for two reasons. First, that