Wills of Famous Americans. with the greatest minuteness how they should be disposed of. The most famous provisions in this great document, which Washington declares to have written with his own hand, are those in which he devises fifty shares of stock in the Potomac River Company for the found ing of an American university, and that in which he provides for the liberation of his slaves. The shares of stock were presented to him by the Virginia legislature, and were at first declined, but the gift was afterward so arranged as not to conflict with his notions of propriety in receiving public gifts. The provisions for the gift to the proposed uni versity are couched in patriotic language char acteristic of the man. Washington was not only patriotic; he was public spirited. He made many gifts in his will which were in tended to be public benefactions. It is the slave clause which reads most curiously to the child of the last generation. It is, in fact, an excellent abolitionist docu ment. They were not to be released till the death of Martha Washington, his wife. He stated that it was his earnest wish that they should be emancipated before, but he thought, this would be accompanied with insurmount able difficulties. The chief of these was the intermarriages which existed with the dower negroes. He says that he should be glad to emancipate both, but it was not in his power to do so. They were to be taught to read and write, and at Mrs. Washington's decease all his directions with regard to their freedom were to be religiously carried out without evasion or neglect. As a remembrance of the days of bondage the will of " Old Hickory " is a curio. It was made at the Hermitage, where he passed his declining years. It required nearly all his earthly possessions, saving a few slaves, to pay the debts which his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr., had contracted, and he states at the beginning of the document that he had made this will on account of the change in his affairs, necessitated by the obligations
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he had assumed for his son. Every member of his immediate family, including his grand children of tender years, is remembered with at least one slave to be owned absolutely. These bequests are made in language expres sive of the great affection which he pos sessed for all his kin. Probably the old pictures of Jackson which represent him as always walking with a cane are true to life, for in his will he has several bequests of his favorite walking-sticks. These appear as dear to him as his swords. He presents the latter with the patriotic re quest that they never be raised except in the defense of the nation. Indeed, the language of the will leaves no room to doubt that Jack son was a patriotic man to the core and that he had the highest welfare of the nation at heart. In striking contrast to the will of Jackson is that of John Quincy Adams. They are as unlike as were the two men. Adams was a Unitarian of the Boston school, and his will contains none of the usual references to religious matters, but deals strictly with the topic in hand — the disposition of his prop erty. He says nothing of his belief in God, as does Jackson, nor of his hope in the here after. Adams lost his original will and wrote the one which stood at the time of his death in its stead. It is a lengthy document and is more like the will of Washington than that of any other President. He, too, was fond of his walking-sticks, and gave particular directions as to the disposition of those which had been presented to him in honor of his labors for the right of petition. One of these canes, in accordance with his wish, is now deposited in the Patent Office. Adams died a wealthy man for his time. He owned a considerable amount of property in Washington. He had a house and some land on F street, and a store and house on Pennsylvania avenue. Besides these he had many possessions in Massachusetts, of which some were in the city of Boston and very valuable. A peculiarity of his will is that he mentions his own name as John Quincy
