was bound to presume an intention to complete the imperfect paper and the only question was, whether that presumption was sufficiently repelled in evidence. The strong language of the will, and the deliberation with which it appeared to have been made, were such as to require but slight circumstances to do so. The testator was a military man, unacquainted with the forms of business, and had been led to believe, from counsel's opinion, that the will would be valid without witnesses; he might, therefore, have copied the clause of attestation from some form, without knowing the legal effect of it; his wife and daughter were amply provided for by his marriage settlement; and this will was, therefore, especially designed to provide for his natural son, in conformity to the regard he was proved invariably to have felt for him. Nothing could be stronger than the terms in which that intention was expressed in the will; the deceased was a man of reserved habits, except to his wife, in whom he placed the greatest confidence; to her he reads his will, declares it to be so, and again deposits it in her presence; this amounts to a republication of the paper; and the Court having no doubt, under all the circumstances, of the deceased's intention that it should operate after his death, felt itself bound to pronounce for its validity as the will of the deceased. Doe ex dim. Hicks v. Ring.-In this case the only question was, whether the reversion of an estate, to which the testator was entitled, passed under a devise of "all his effects to his wife. Mr. Serjeant Blossett, for the devisee, the lessor of the plaintiff, said, that the will was so short, that little argument as to his intention by this word could be adduced either way. It had been always held, that words were to be taken in the sense in which the testator employed them throughout the will, however dissimilar that meaning might be from the proper or ordinary sense. Thus in Doe er dim. Tofield v. Tofield, 11 East, 246, it was held, that real property might pass under the words "personal estates," it being manifest from the whole of the instrument that such was the devisor's intention. In the case before the Court, the duty of the testator required the disinheriting of the heir at law, in favour of a reputed wife and her children: and it was quite certain that he intended to do so; the only question being, whether that intention was sufficiently expressed in the will. He knew that his personal effects were only of the value of 1187. whereas his real were worth 401. per an num; and it was clear he knew that he was entitled to this reversionary estate, for an offer was made him to purchase it a little while before his death. He called in four witnesses to attest his will, being one more than the statute requires for the passing of real estate. If the Court were satisfied that the testator's intention was to pass real property under the word effects, it was insignificant what was the exact meaning of the word; but if the Court were not so satisfied, the etymow logical meaning was in the Learned Serjeant's favour, if any thing: in the etymology of the word there was nothing that implied any thing personal in contradiction to real. The word meant property acquired in general, and it was only a secondary meaning which confined that property to personal. In the four decisions which were to be found on this word, in East's Reports, three held it to extend to real, and only one confined it to personal estate; and by the lower classes of people particularly, it was frequently used to signify real estate. He quoted Cowp. 298, in which, although the devise was of the residue of the testator's "effects, both real and personal," a good deal turned on the meaning of the word effects, which was argued to mean only personal property, and it was contended that real effects meant only chattels; but Lord Mansfield denied that the word effects was ex vi termini so confined. The word had been used to signify real property by the legislature, who made it felony in a bankrupt to conceal his monies or effects. This extended to real property, although in a criminal case the most rigid construction would be put upon a word. He cited 2 New, 221, 1 East, 33, 3 East, 516, in which the word from the context received an opposite construction, and 11 East, 290. Lord Ellenborough. In all these cases there was context; but when all explanatory context is absent, have you any case where the words effects per se is held to extend to real estate? Mr. Serjeant Blosset admitted he could carry it no further than the dicta of Lord Mansfield, and the intention in the will to pass every thing, to which the most extended sense would be given... Before Sir John Bayley and a Special Jury. Bootle, Esq. M. P. and Others! v. Blundell, Esq.-Sir W. Garrow stated the case to the jury. It was an issue out of the Court of Chancery, and the plaintiffs were Wilbraham Bootle, Esq. a member of parliament, and other persons, devisees of the late Mr. Henry Blundell, of Ince, near Liverpool, and the defendant was Charles Blundell, Esq. the son and heir of Henry Blundell. The question to be tried was, whether the late Mr. Henry Blundell, at the time he made his will in July 1809, and his codicil in May 1810, was of sound mind. That at both those periods he was of sound mind, he should show beyond all doubt. To make the subject more intelligible to the jury, the learned advocate said he would enter a little into the history of the late Mr. Blundell, of Ince. This gentleman, with an ample patrimony, had from early life an ardent passion for the cultivation of the fine arts. He had travelled the continent, and had resided at Rome, occasionally visiting other places most deserving notice, as containing the valuable and classical remains of antiquity. In collecting these monuments of ancient grandeur, he spared neither pains nor cost; and it was his pride and ambition to have it said that the finest collection of antique statues was in the possession of a private English gentleman. Having imported these valuable remains of the Grecian and Roman artists, he erected a superb puntheon at Ince, the place of his residence in this country, and directed that it should be constantly open for the gratuitous inspection of men of taste and learning. This pantheon was his chief delight, and the chief object of his expenditure; but notwithstanding all its cost, he increased the value of his estates sixfold, and the whole of his immense property he certainly at one time proposed to leave to his son, the present defendant. He had besides that son, two daughters, who were married, the one to a Mr. Tempest, and the other to a Mr. Stoner, both men of fortune, but they had large families. Mr. Blundell, the father, though desirous his son should inherit his property, yet wished, in the event of his son not marrying, or not having issue, that his daughters' children should have the property settled upon them. This, the learned counsel said, was the subject of remonstrance on the part of the defendant, who conceived that the intention his father had mauifested would have the effect of disinheriting him. He contended with his father, that he had a right to the whole of his property, his sisters being provided for. The testator, considering that if he left his daughters and their children to the future liberality of their brother, the defendant, they would not derive the ultimate benefit he intended them, resolved to settle upon them a considerable portion of his property, and by his will thereupon he left the defendant about 15,0001. a-year, including the Ince estate, and as much more he left to his daughters. By a codicil he provided, that if his son disputed his will, he should defray all the expense of the litigation. After his death, the defendant insisted that his father was not in a capacity to make either the will or the codicil, and he accordingly contested both. It was true, that when Mr. Blundell executed his testamentary dispositions, he was in an advanced stage of life, nearly 90 years of age: his sight was greatly impaired, and he was extremely deaf; but it would be shown that he was in full possession of all his intellectual faculties. The learned attorney-general assured the jury, he should make out such a strong and irresistible case, as would not leave a particle of doubt on the minds of the jury as to the sanity of the deceased testator. He first read the depositions of the solicitor who made the will and codicil. It showed that Mr. Blundell was perfectly aware of the contents, that he had the draughts read over to COMMONS. him, and entirely approved of PREROGATIVE COURT, DOCTORS' them. Dr. M.Cartney, the physician who attended hin, described him as a man of a vigorous mind; in a state competent to business; incapable of being imposed upon, but at times subject to lethargy, arising from the jaundice, which, however, he always soon got the better of. He should have had no hesitation in attesting his will at any period of his life. It was proved by other witnesses, that Mr. Blundell, within the year he died, had meditated a plan for the establishment of an academy for the fine arts, for the benefit and emulation of artists in the northern part of the kingdom, and that he gave 1,6001. towards it. It was also shown, that about the same period he edited and printed fifty copies of a grand edition of the engravings of the Statues and monuments in bis Pantheon; the letter-press of which was most ably and classically written by himself; and that one copy he intended for the British Mu seum. Mr. Topping, the defendant's counsel, now said, he was authorized by his client, Mr. Charles Blundell, not to keep up the cause any longer. It was a vast stake for which Mr. Blundell was contending, and conceiving himself to have been disinherited, he thought he had a right to have it proved in a court of justice that he had been disinherited in due form by a will duly executed. It was impossible to resist the weight of the evidence, and therefore he cheerfully submitted.-Verdict for plaintiff. VOL. LVI. Fisher and Wheeler against Mills.-This was a suit to try the validity of the will of Mr. Andrew Mills, late of Streatham, Surrey, deceased, at the instance of Mr. Robert Fisher, of Streatham, and Mr. Henry Wheeler, jun. of the Stock Exchange, the executors, against Mr. John Mills, the deceased's nephew, and one of his next relatives. It appeared that the deceased was a wheelwright, and carried ou his trade in a small house at Streatham, the lower part of which served for his workshop, and the upper contained two rooms, in which he lived without any servant. By his labour and habits of economy, he had saved property in the funds and elsewhere to the amount of about three thousand pounds. He had nephews and nieces to the number of ten or twelve; but it did not appear that he kept up any great intimacy with them. He was in the habit of receiving many attentions from the families of the two executors who lived in the neighbourhood, particularly from that of Mr. Fisher, whose shop adjoined the deceased's residence, and with whom he frequently took his meals, &c. Mrs. Fisher and her daughters attended, and sat up with him in his last illness. died on the 20th of July, 1812, at the advanced age of seventyfour, and for about two years preceding had been subject to occasional deafness. His infirmities increased so as to confine him to his bed for the last five or six weeks of his life, during the lat U He ter part of which he was totally blind. On the 6th of July preceding his death, Mrs. Wheeler applied, as was stated, by the directions of the deceased, to Mr. Noy, an attorney in the neighbourhood, and gave him instructions for a will, which was drawn up immediately by him, and executed the same day. By this will the testator gave legacies of from 1001, to 2501. stock to several of his relations, and after some trifling pecuniary legacies, the residue of his property to Mr. Robert Fisher and Mrs. Wheeler, sen. appointing the former and Mr. Henry Wheeler, jun. executors. On the 9th of July a second application was made to Mr. Noy, by Mr. Fisher, stating that the deceased was not quite satisfied with his will, as his book-debts, household furniture, &c. which were included in the residue of his property bequeathed to Mr. Fisher and Mrs. Wheeler jointly, he meant to leave exclusively to, Mr. Fisher. Mr. Noy accordingly prepared a codicil, embracing this alteration, but confirming the will in other respects; and being introduced to the deceased by Mr. Fisher, as a person who was come about his book-debts, the codicil was executed. On the 11th of July, Mr. Noy was again applied to, and attended at the deceased's house, where he met Mr. Fisher and Mrs. Wheeler, who told him that they thought it would be better for the deceased to dispose of his property by one instrument than by two, and that the residue of his general property was to be given to Mr. Fisher only, as Mrs. Wheeler was to have the remaining part of his funded property after payment of the legacies charged on it. They then gave him the will and codicil, and the alterations required, being, as he described them, but trivial; he drew up, on the spot, the new will, and was then introduced by Mr. Fisher and Mrs. Wheeler into the deceased's bed-room to get it executed, for which purpose he was lifted up in bed by Miss Fisher, who was attending him. Mr. Noy then, as he stated, read the will over to him, pausing at the end of each legacy, and the deceased expressed his assent by inclining his head. A pen was then put into his hand, which was guided by Miss Fisher, and the will sigued. The words of publication were then repeated to him, and he again nodded his head. He survived eighteen days from this period, and then died. The three testamentary papers were exhibited in the cause, the two former ones appearing to be cancelled; and they were opposed by the next of kin, on the ground of a confederacy amongst the Fishers and Wheelers to obtain the deceased's property, and his total incapacity to know or understand the nature and object of the act he was performing at the time of executing the papers in question, to prove which a number of witnesses were examined. Sir John Nicholl recapitulated their evidence, and observed it was not so material to inquire into the motives of the parties, in paying attention to the deceased, if the effect should appear to have been produced, and he to have really entertained an intention to benefit them by his will. The short account given of the execution of the codicil was also immaterial, as that was not the ques |