“thou say’st thy will is good, and glory’st in it, and yet forget’st thy maker ev’ry minute: say, portio, was there ever will allow’d when the testator’s mem’ry was not good?” quarles.
it was said that such expressions of religious faith as those of dr. johnson and his namesake were still frequent in the eighteenth century, and still to some extent formal. there is an interesting commentary on this in the will of the rev. philip doddridge, d.d., the famous writer and divine. his will is dated june 11, 1741, and was proved with a codicil on the 31st of december, 1751. “whereas it is customary on these occasions to begin with recommending the soul into the hands of god thro’ christ, i do it not in mere form but with sincerity and joy, esteeming it my greatest happiness that i am taught and encouraged to do it by that glorious gospel, which having most assuredly believed i have spent my life in preaching to others, and esteem an infinitely [pg 114] greater treasure than all my little worldly store, or possessions ten thousand times greater than mine.”
in his will dated 13th of may, 1751, and proved in december the same year, another divine, the rev. obadiah hughes, d.d., recommends his soul to god in a peculiarly touching dedication. we cannot but believe in its sincerity and strength. “in the name of god, amen. i obadiah hughes, of aldermanbury, london, minister of the gospel and doctor in divinity, (being sensible of the frailty and uncertainty of life, and reckoning it a duty of very great importance incumbent upon every man to set his house in order, as well as his heart, before he dies,) do make this my last will and testament in manner following. i recommend my soul into the hands of god, to whom i am humbly bold thro’ jesus christ to claim a relation as my god and my father; and though conscious to myself of great unworthiness, yet i hope to be accepted in the beloved son of god, and for his sake to obtain mercy and pardon and life eternal. this jesus i have endeavoured to serve in the gospel, with great sincerity, i trust, tho’ with many infirmities and too much remissness; with him i have long ago lodged my everlasting concerns, and i do now most solemnly in the views and expectation of another world declare that i receive christ jesus by faith as my lord, and repose an unshaken confidence in him as my all-sufficient saviour; and [pg 115] according to the constitution of the covenant of grace, as a penitent returning believing sinner, i hope for christ’s sake to be made a partaker of an inheritance with the saints in light, at that awful season when my soul and body shall by death be parted. and in those regions of immortal bliss i hope with inconceivable joy to meet the departed spirit of my late most dearly beloved wife, which i doubt not has safely reached its heavenly home upon its dislodgment from the body—lord jesus christ, let not this hope leave me ashamed, nor my soul finally miscarry.”
truly in wills we are delighted with intimacies that elsewhere are seldom seen. here, again, is a familiar touch in one of dean cheyney’s many codicils, already quoted in part: “hond. madam, as i have by will given the greatest part of my estate entirely unto your disposal (being desirous you should enjoy it and be made as happy as possible whilst in this world), i make no doubt but, if you survive me, you will as well out of regard to justice as my request, immediately after my death make a will, and therein take effectual care of what i here recommend to you.... this i have writ in haste to supply the defects of my will now made, in case i die before i make a new one; which i intend in a few months when my affairs will be better settled, if it please god to spare me so long. i have nothing to add but that i shall with my last and earnest prayers commend you to the providence of god, hoping that [pg 116] he will, in such way as he knows best, supply the loss of friends and have you always in his holy keeping, and conduct you in his own appointed time to those happy mansions where all tears will be wiped away from your eyes. if you fix your thoughts here, (as you ought,) you will soon learn to despise the world and all its uncertain goods. have no thought of me, but if any let it be that i am taken out of a very miserable life, and wish me not out of that happiness everlasting which through the merits of christ jesus i hope to be made partaker of in another world. adieu! your dutiful son, thomas cheyney. nov. 3rd, 1724.”
the dean seems to have lived in constant apprehension of death: in april, 1724, he was “labouring under great bodily infirmities which daily call upon me to remember my latter end”; but he lived till 1759, being in that year “of sound mind and not forgetful of my mortality.” twice in his testamentary papers he commends his soul to god in prayer. “and so i once more commend myself to thee, o father of spirits, professing myself to die, however wickedly and unprofitably i have lived, in the christian religion as taught in the church of england, lamenting her divisions and disputes about obscure and unnecessary things, being in peace and charity with all the world.” (1735.) “and first i recommend into thy hands, almighty and everlasting god, my immortal soul, beseeching thee in all changes to keep it close unto thyself, and that i may in the day of judgment find such mercy as i [pg 117] shall stand in need of through the merits of a blessed redeemer.” wills sometimes begin or break out thus in prayer. “good god direct me in this and all other good things which i shall go about,” cries phillippa jones in 1768, and samuel gillam in 1787: “o lord, thou art great and good, but i am a vile sinner; give me all the mercies i stand in need of for time and for eternity, for the sake of jesus christ; and through him accept all my thankgivings for whatever i have and hope for: to the father son and holy spirit be eternal glory, amen.” the rev. richard forster (1728) most humbly commends his soul “into the hand of god the faithful creator, most earnestly beseeching him that through the merits and mediation of the merciful redeemer who purchased it by his blood, being purged and cleansed from all the defilement contracted in this miserable and naughty world, the lusts of the flesh, or the wiles of satan, and being sanctified by the holy ghost, it may be precious in the sight of the glorious trinity, and be presented without spot in the presence of the divine majesty.”
of peculiar interest, again, are some of the wills of french protestants in this century. two may be quoted as differing types, which yet help to illustrate one another as well as the times they represent. the first is that of john lacombe, translated (indifferently) from the french and proved on may 4, 1702. “in the name of the father of the son and of the holy ghost, amen. i john lacombe [pg 118] underwritten, born in the city of st. hipolite, ... having settled my house and lived the greatest part of my time in the city of paris, after having received so many graces and favours from the mercy of god in all the course of my life, and chiefly in this time of affliction and grief for his church in which so many persons do sigh after the liberty of serving him purely according to the motives of their conscience, i render him my most humble actions of grace, and desire that one may know after me that i do bless him eternally from the profoundest of my heart, for the kindness which he hath done me for conducting me through his providence in this city wherein i find the pureness of his service, and the means to render him my adorations, in mind and truth according to his word. i am come into it with the five children which it hath pleased god to leave me of a greater number which he had given me. i have still in france elizabeth beauchamp my wife, their mother. i hope that god shall grant me grace to see her in this country to end together the few days which remain to us: to live and to die in it in peace and tranquillity, that is the prayer which i make daily to god. and as i am advanced in years, being in my seventy fifth year, very infirm of body, but of sound mind and understanding by the grace of god, and that the hour of my death is as much uncertain as it is sure, i am upon the watch expecting the time of my going off. i [pg 119] beg instantly to my god the forgiveness of my sins, and to grant me mercy for the sake and through the merits and intercession of our lord jesus christ, my only redeemer. i invoke all the adorable trinity, one only god, eternally blessed. and desiring to live and die in the profession of the reformed religion, i pray god when my time shall be come to receive me in his rest.”
the will of isaac rigoullott (1720), translated out of dutch, is more truculent. “in the name of god, amen. because death is certain and the hour thereof uncertain, after having recommended my body and soul to god by jesus christ our lord through his holy spirit, and being come out of france by reason of the persecution against our holy christian religion, forcing us to worship the bread and wine as being the flesh and bone of our lord jesus christ, making us to believe in the invocation of saints, the imaginary fire of purgatory, and other falsehoods inspired by the spirit of the devil, to worship the true god in spirit and in truth as he hath commanded us in his holy word in the old and new testament, i isaac rigoullott ... give,” &c.
we are sometimes surprised, considering their characters, with the lack of this or that feature in the wills of well-known men; but it would, indeed, have been a surprise and a disappointment if alexander cruden, the writer of the famous “concordance,” had not expressed in his will something, at least, of his doctrinal views and pious soul. written with his own hand, and signed and sealed at aberdeen, april 10, 1770, [pg 120] his will thus begins: “in the name of god, amen. i alexander cruden, late a citizen and stationer of london, now living at aberdeen, being through the goodness of god sound in body and mind, do make and ordain this to be my last will and testament. i acknowledge that i am a miserable sinner by nature and life, being descended from the first adam, who by his fall in sinning against god hath involved himself and his posterity in sin and misery. and i desire grace at all times, by a true and saving faith, to look for redemption and salvation through the blood and righteousness of our lord jesus christ, the second adam and god man mediator, who by his wonderful incarnation obedience and death hath satisfied divine justice, and purchased salvation for all who are enabled truly to believe in this all sufficient and suitable saviour, and to receive him as their prophet priest and king, and to rest and rely upon christ and his righteousness alone for pardon and eternal salvation. and i desire that my body may be decently buried in the church yard of aberdeen, where my pious father and his family are interred.”
these are elaborate instances of piety in the eighteenth century; short and general phrases as “i resign my soul into the hands of my almighty creator, in the hopes of a glorious resurrection through the merits and mediation of his blessed son jesus christ, our saviour and redeemer, [pg 121]” contained in the will of john pybus (1789), are frequently to be found. more uncommon is the confession of george baker (1770), considering the usual tone of contrition and penitence in wills. “in the name of the eternal and everlasting god the great creator and disposer of all things, whose divine law has been my study and his sacred paths my supreme delight, i george baker, of the inner temple, london, esquire, do make this my last will and testament.”
in mrs. gaskell’s “sylvia’s lovers” is the following passage: “has thee put that i’m in my sound mind and seven senses? then make the sign of the trinity, and write ‘in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost.’” “is that the right way o’ beginning a will?” said coulson, a little startled. “my father and my father’s father, and my husband had it atop of theirs, and i’m noane going for to cease fra’ following after them, for they were godly men, though my husband were o’ t’ episcopal persuasion.” it would be necessary to remember how largely tradition and custom count, if we were to examine wills carefully and thoroughly for the purpose of studying the piety of this or that period of english life. yet it can be seen how valuable these prefaces are. elaborate or simple, there is much to learn and mark in them. but it is curious to observe that george herbert (to leave the eighteenth century for a moment), and william law, two of the most pious souls of their periods, use very few words in their religious [pg 122] dedications. the first says simply: “i george herbert, recommending my soul and body to almighty god that made them, do thus dispose of my goods.” william law, in terms only a little more elaborate, thus begins: “i william law, of kings cliffe, in the county of northampton, clerk, being i bless god in good health of body and soundness of mind, do make this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say: imprimis: i humbly recommend my soul to the mercies of god in christ jesus, and my body i commit to the earth to be interred in the church yard of kings cliffe aforesaid, at the discretion of my executrix.”