made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, and such witnesses must attest and subscribe the will in the presence of the testator, but no attestation clause is now necessary.

The rule, that every will must be signed "at the foot or end thereof," appears to be a very simple one, but numbers of wills have been set aside upon the ground that it had not been strictly complied with. The object of the legislature in enacting it, was to prevent the possibility of any words being fraudulently interpolated between the body of the will and the signature of the testator; but the Ecclesiastical Courts, which until lately had jurisdiction to grant or withhold probate (or proof of the instrument being properly executed), seem to have taken a delight in straining the letter of the law to its utmost extent against the testator, and have propounded a series of judgments which seem to be as much at variance with common sense, as they are with each other. An Act of Parliament, however, prepared by Lord St. Leonards, has extinguished these cases as authorities, and now a signature is valid if it be so placed at or after, or following, or under, or beside, or opposite to the end of the will, that it shall be apparent on the face of the will that the testator intended to give effect by such his signature to the writing signed as his will.

No disposition or direction following the signature, or below it, or inserted after it has been made, will be operative; and all alterations and interlineations in the body of a will, should be signed in the margin with the initials of the testator, or noticed in the attestation, so as to show that they were made before the signing. If an addition is necessary after the signing and attestation, it must be re-signed and re-attested.

An attesting witness may sign the will for the testator by his direction, and where a party so acting signed his own name, but expressed it to be on behalf of the testator, the will was held to be valid. Again, where a woman who had been twice married, signed (under a power) her will in the name of her first husband, the

signature was considered as her mark, and the will admitted to probate.

A testator may sign by a mark, and it forms no objection to such a mode of signature that he is able to write his name.

The signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of the witnesses. If it has been affixed in their absence, it is a sufficient acknowledgment, if the testator produce the paper to them as his will, so that they can see that it is signed; but if the will be so folded by the testator as to conceal the entire contents, and the witnesses do not know that it is signed or if it is not signed their signature attests nothing, and is void. Both witnesses should see the signature of the testator, but it is not necessary that they should know that it is to a will.

Two attesting witnesses are sufficient, but there is no reason why a greater number should not sign. Any person, even a felon or a lunatic, may be an attesting witness. Attestation may be made by mark, each witness making his own; if, however, the one guides the hand of the other, that does not invalidate the will.

The signature of attesting witnesses must be made in the presence of the testator, which means in a place where, if he looked towards it, he could see them sign; they need not be in the same room or house with him; if he can see them in the act of signing through a window, it is sufficient. If they are in the same room with him, but in such a position as to make it physically impossible that he see them sign, it is insufficient. The same rule applies to a blind person's will; although he cannot see, the will is invalid where it does not appear that he could, had he his eyesight, have seen the witnesses sign.

The usual conclusion of a will is as follows:

'Signed by the above-named testator in the presence of us present at the same time who have hereunto signed our names as witnesses hereto, in the presence of the said testator and in the presence of each other.

When attestation is in this form, the witnesses must both be present during the signing of the will by the testator and by each other.

I shall not attempt to give you any directions for the disposal of property by will, because in a short and elementary treatise like the present, it would be unsafe for me to do so. As soon as you possess anything to leave, and are competent to make a will, call in a regularlyqualified lawyer, tell him what you intend to do, and he will clothe your wishes in proper language. Then, when the instrument is sent home to you, execute and have it attested as I have directed, and all will be well.

II. How A WILL MAY BE MODIFIED OR REVOKED.

Sometimes a testator having made his will, desires to modify its provisions, revoking former gifts and selecting new objects of his bounty. It is wiser to make a new will altogether, if the modifications are at all numerous or complex. Often, however, this may be, and very frequently is, effected by a codicil, which is a testamentary paper, as its name implies, of a smaller character than a will. It must, however, be signed and attested with the same solemnities, and when executed, will be read together with the will as one instrument.

A will may be revoked at any time during the testator's life, in four ways:—

1. By a subsequent revoking or inconsistent Will or Codicil.

2. By the disposal of the Property named in the Will. 3. By Marriage.

4. By tearing, burning, or otherwise dealing with the Paper on which a Will is written, with the intention of destroying it.

I will consider these in their order.

1. By a subsequent revoking or inconsistent Will or Codicil. No will can be altered or revoked by word of mouth, and the codicil or writing revoking or altering it must be signed and attested in all respects as a will.

When a testator, at different periods of his life, has made various testamentary papers, each purporting to contain his last will, that one which was executed most proximately to his decease, will be admitted to probate, and acted upon. It is, therefore, very important that a will should be accurately dated with the day, month, and year of its execution. A testator may, however, make several wills, each disposing of different property, and they will all stand together as a single will.

If a testator who has made one will execute a paper duly attested, expressly revoking that will and saying no more, he destroys it as completely as though it had been consumed by fire, and should he make no further disposition of his property, he will die intestate. But if he has made two or more wills, and revokes the last, the last but one is thereby revived exactly as it stood. Thus, if I made a will, giving my house to A, my books to B, and £100 to C, and by a codicil to it revoked the gift to A, gave the money to B, and the house and library to Cor some one else, which will I revoked by another, and afterwards revoked the revocation, the property and goods would go according to the revoking codicil of the first instrument, unless I showed an intention to the contrary.

A similar rule applies to wills and codicils that are inconsistent with each other.

If a testator give his plate to A in one will, to B in a second, and to C in a third, although in other respects the three wills might not clash, Cwill have the legacy to the exclusion of A and B. A subsequent disposition made in error, concerning a fact respecting the person to whom the property was previously given, will not be maintained. Thus, in a case where a father left an estate to his son, and afterward, believing him to be dead, bequeathed it to another person, it was held that the subsequent disposition was invalid.

2. By the disposal of the Property named in the Will.-A will speaks from the death of the testator, and by it the testator may dispose of all the property that is in his possession, or to which he is entitled, at the

time of the decease. But as he may alter or revoke his will at any time during his life, so he may grant, give away, or sell his estate or effects, and should he do so, it is quite clear that they are no longer his to bequeath.

3. By Marriage. The marriage of either man or woman revokes all previously executed wills, and they are not revived by the death of the husband or wife of the testatrix or testator.

4. By tearing, burning, or otherwise dealing with the Paper on which a Will is written, with the intention of destroying it.-The concluding words-with the intention of destroying it-must always be remembered in considering whether a will has or has not been revoked by the last mode.

The mere physical act of destruction or obliteration, may be explained, and deprived of all revoking efficacy. Thus, should a testator throw ink over his will in mistake for sand, or obliterate the writing in a fit of insanity, it will remain in full force, notwithstanding such accidental or involuntary obliteration, however serious it may be. On the other hand, a very slight mutilation, when done with an intention to destroy, will revoke a will. This rule was established in a very early case, the facts of whichtaken from Mr. Jarman's book on wills-are as follows:

"The testator (who had frequently declared himself dissatisfied with his will) being one day in bed, near the fire, ordered W, a person who attended him, to fetch his will, which she did, and delivered it to him, it being then whole, only somewhat erased; he opened and looked at it, then gave it a rip with his hands so as almost to tear a bit off, then rumpled it together and threw it upon the fire, but it fell off; W picked up the will, and put it in her pocket; the testator did not see her do so, but seemed to have some suspicion of it, as he asked her what she was at, to which she made little or no answer; the testator several times afterwards, said that it was not and should not be his will, and bid her destroy it; she said, 'So I will when you have made another;' but afterwards, upon his repeated inquiries, she falsely told