y herself, for safe
keeping, as their guardian. Whereas, if this last arrangement went
into effect, he feared that it would make her great trouble to keep
the accounts, as she could not write, not even to sign her name. He
determined, therefore, to make a will, and give all his property, of
every kind, absolutely to her. This he did, in the manner described in
the last chapter.

The law invests every man with a very absolute power in respect to his
property, authorizing him to make any disposition of it whatever, and
carrying faithfully into effect, after his death, any wish that he may
have expressed in regard to it, as his deliberate and final intention.
It insists, however, that there should be evidence that the wish, so
expressed, is really a deliberate and final act. It is not enough that
the man should say in words what his wishes are. The will must be in
writing, and it must be signed; or if the sick man can not write, he
must make some mark with the pen, at the bottom of the paper, to stand
instead of a signature, and to show that he considers the act, which
he is performing, as a solemn and binding transaction. Nor will it do
to have the will executed in the presence of only one witness; for if
that were allowed, designing persons would sometimes persuade a sick
man, who was rich, to sign a will which they themselves had written,
telling him, perhaps, that it was only a receipt, or some other
unimportant paper, and thus inducing him to convey his property in a
way that he did not intend. The truth is, that there is necessity for
a much greater degree of precautionary form, in the execution of a
will, than in almost any other transaction; for as the man himself
will be dead and gone when the time comes for carrying the will into
effect,--and so can not give any explanation of his designs, it is
necessary to make them absolutely clear and certain, independently
of him. It was, accordingly, the law, in the state where Mary Erskine
lived, that there should be three witnesses present, when any person
signed a will; and also that when signing the paper, the man should
say that he knew that it was his will. If three credible persons thus
attested the reality and honesty of the transaction, it was thought
sufficient, in all ordinary cases, to make it sure.

Albert, it seems, was not aware how many witnesses were required. When
he requested Mrs. Bell to sign his will, as witness, he thought that
he was doing all that