“And, moreover, I will that he shal be contented for all other thynges between him and me.
“Item: I do owe unto Mr. John of Anwarpe, Goldsmythe, saxe pounds sterling, which I will alsoe shalle be payde unto hyme with the fyrste.
“Item: I bequeathe for the kypyng of my two chylder, which be atte nurse, for every monthe, seyvene shellinges, and sexpence styrlynge.
“In wytnes I have sealed and sealed thys my testamente, thys sexthe daye of October, in the yeare of our Lorde MIVCXLIIJ.
“Wytnes, Anthony Snetcher, Armerer, Mr. John of Anwarpe, aforesaid, Goldsmythe, Obrycke Obynger, Merchante and Harry Maynaert, Paynter.”
The greatest testamentary powers ever conferred on an English king were given to Henry VIII. by 25 Henry VIII. c. 7, empowering him to limit and appoint the succession to the Crown by will, in default of children by Jane Seymour.
This will of Henry VIII. is to be found in full in Nicolas’s “Testamenta Vetusta,” a collection of famous wills, a work of great excellence, prepared in 1825. There are also to be found the Wills of Henry II., Henry III., Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI., and Henry VII., as are those of other Kings and Queens of England.
The will of this ingenious satirist is adorned (or disfigured) by a very characteristic clause: “I have no available property, I owe a great deal; the rest I give to the poor.”
We cannot affirm that this bull, worthy of an Irishman, is well authenticated, any more than Rabelais’s facetious reply to the messenger of Cardinal du Belay, whom he sent to see how he fared in his last illness: “Je vais chercher un grand peutêtre; tirez le rideau, la farce est jouée.”
Mary Stuart was beheaded in 1587. Her will is to be found in a collection entitled: “Pièces fugitives pour servir à l’Histoire de France, avec des notes historiques, par M. le Baron d’Aubais,” 1759. This work is in 5 vols. 4to, and the will is in the second.
It is prefaced by a short note explanatory of the attendant circumstances, viz. that it was written by the ill-fated queen on the eve of her execution, and after she had been curtly, unceremoniously, and unexpectedly informed it was to take place at eight the following morning. The writing out of this, and of an extremely touching letter to her brother-in-law, Henri III., occupied her until two o’clock in the morning, when she bathed, selected and put on her costliest dress, head-dress, and costume, distributed her little store of ready money and jewels to her attendants, retired to her oratory and prepared herself for death. All this is minutely related, also the manner of her death; for to the last moment the queen was unaware whether she were to be beheaded standing or with her head on the block. It was, however, to be by the latter mode; and the headsman proved so inexperienced, and his weapon so clumsy, that the operation was only completed after three blows.