Per row — The Last Will and Testament in Literature. 739 
declaring his lack of faith in holy things and confessing that 
he has been a professional turncoat: 
“Imprimis. For mv soul, I have heard very much of souls, 
but what they are, or whom they are for, God knows, I know 
not; they tell me now of another world, where I never was nor 
do I know one foot of the way thither. While the king 
stood, I was of his religion; made my son wear a cassock, and 
thought to make him a bishop. Then came the Scots and made 
me a Presbyterian; and since Cromwell entered I have been 
an independent.” 
The remainder of the testament, except for two paragraphs 
devoted to funeral arrangements, is made up of satirical be 
quests. 
The Marquis of Argyle’s Last Will and Testament, with 
his Character (1661) is the title of a tract directed against 
Archibald Campbell. 1 The marquis is made to confess his 
manifold wickedness, to divide up his body among his friends, 
and to make numerous satirical bequests. The following may 
serve as examples of the latter: 
“Item, I give 1000 marks for the building of a hospital or 
pest-house, for all such as are or shall be infected with the 
Scctch-plague; that is, such as want clothes, money, and 
friends. 
'“Item, to the poor of my parish, for every curse they give 
me, the sum of 000.” 
The testament is bitter but not clever, and rather indecent 
than witty. 
Still more bitter and indecent is The last Will and Testa¬ 
ment of Father Peters (1660). 2 After disposing of his soul 
the testator makes bequests of parts of his body and of his 
wearing apparel. All this is done in the coarsest manner 
possible. Provision is made for his burial and bequests made 
to promote crime. After an inventory of his goods has been 
made the document closes with a satirical prayer. 
1 Harleian Miscellany, L., 1811, VIII, 28. On the Character see a 
thesis presented by C. N. Greenough at Harvard University in 1904, 
Studies in the Development of Character-writing in England. 
2 Harleian Miscellany, V, 829. Hugh Peters was a hypocritical 
preacher who was executed in 1660. 
