And pay ye fairly my last will,
With first and second codicil.
And first I give to dear Lord Hinton,
At Twyford school now, not at Winton,
One hundred guineas and a ring,
Or some such memorandum thing,
And truly much I should have blunder'd,
Had I not given another hundred
To dear Earl Paulett's second son,
Who dearly loves a little fun.
Unto my nephew, Stephen Langdon,
Of whom none says he e'er has wrong done,
The civil laws he loves to hash,
I give two hundred pounds in cash.
One hundred pounds to my niece, Tudor,
(With luring eyes one Clark did view her,)
And to her children just among 'em,
A hundred more--and not to wrong 'em,
In equal shares I freely give it,
Not doubting but they will receive it.
To Betsy Mudford and Mary Lee,
If they with Mrs. Mudford be,
Because they round the year did dwell
In Davies-street, and serv'd full well.
The first ten pounds, the other twenty,
And girls, I hope that will content ye.
In seventeen hundred and sixty-nine,
This with my hand I write and sign,
The sixteenth day of fair October,
In merry mood, but sound and sober.
Past my threescore and fifteenth year,
With spirits gay and conscience clear--
Joyous and frolicksome, though old,
And like this day, serene, but cold;
To foes well wishing, and to friends most kind,
In perfect charity with all mankind.
For what remains I must desire,
To use the words of Matthew Prior.
Let this my will be well obey'd,
And farewell all, I'm not afraid,
For what avails a struggling sigh.
When soon, or later, all must die?
M. DARLEY."

Joshua West, who was known in his sphere "as the poet of the Six Clerks'
Office," made his will in rhyme; it is dated 13th December, 1804:

"Perhaps I die not worth a groat,
But should I die worth somewhat more,
Then I give that, and my best coat,
And all my manuscripts in store,
To those who will the goodness have
To cause my poor remains to rest,
Within a decent shell and grave,
This is the will of JOSHUA WEST."

In 1654, Henry Phillips published the "Purchasers' Pattern," in which he
gives advice to purchasers of estates of inheritance, in verse.

There is also a long article in verse, "On the Distribution of Intestates'
Effects: it begins--

"By the laws of the land,
It is settled and planned,
That intestates' effects shall be spread,
At the end of the year,
When