LIFE OF WALTON. xli 



COPY OF WALTON'S WILL. 



August the ninth, one thousand six 

 hundred eighty-three. 



5tt tfje Name Of (Soft, 3mf It, I IZAAK WALTON the 



elder, of Winchester, being this present day, in the ninetyeth year of 

 my age, and in perfect memory, for which praised be God ; but con- 

 sidering how suddainly I may be deprived of both, do therefore make 

 this my last Will and Testament as followeth : And first, 1 do declare 

 my belief to be, that there is only one God, who hath made the whole 

 world, and me, and all mankind ; to whom I shall give an account of 

 all my actions, which are not to be justified, but I hope pardoned, for 

 the merits of my Saviour JESUS : And because the profession of Chris- 

 tianity does, at this time, seem to be subdivided into Papist and Protes- 

 tante, I take it, at least, to be convenient, to declare my belief to be, in 

 all points of faith, as the Church of England now professeth : and this 

 I do the rather, because of a very long and very true friendship with 

 some of the Roman Church. And for my worldly estate, (which I 

 have neither got by falsehood or flattery, or the extreme cruelty of the 

 law of this nation, 1 ) I do hereby give and bequeath it as followeth : 

 First, I give my son-in law, Doctor HAWKINS, and to ais WIFE ; to 

 them I give all my title and ri^lit of or in a part of a house and shop 

 in Paternoster-row, in London, which I hold by lease from tin- lord 

 bishop of London for about fifty years to come. And I do also give 

 to them all my right and title of or to a house in Chancery -lane, Lon- 

 don, wherein Mrs. Greinwood now dwelleth, in which is now about 

 sixteen years to come : I give these two leases to them, they saving 

 my executor from oil damage concerning the same. And I give to my 

 son IZAAK all my right and title to a lease of Norington farme, which 

 I hold from the lord bishop of Winton : And I do also give him all my 

 right and title to a farme or land near to Stafford, which I bought of 

 Mr. Walter Noell j 1 say, I give it to him and his heirs lor ever ; but 

 upon the condition following, namely ; if my son shall not marry be- 

 fore he shall be of age of forty-and-one years, or, being married, shall 

 dye before the said age, and leave no son to inherit the said farme or 

 land, or if his son or sons shall not live to attain the age of twenty 

 and one years, to dispose otherways of it, then I give the said farme 

 or land to the towne or corporation of STAFFORD, in which I was 

 borne, for the good and benefit of some of the said towne, as I shall 

 direct, and as followeth ; (but first note, that it is at this present time 

 rented for twenty-one pound ten shillings a-year, and is like to hold 



(1) Alluding, perhaps, to that fundamental maxim of our law, fiitmmum 

 Jus est summa injuria. 



d 



