of any thing by will;' and Falstaff having used the words divide and bequeath, may imply, in asking whether he is a woodman, that he has that 'integritie or perfitnesse of mind' which is requisite in making testaments.

Item omnes viduae de cetero possint legare blada sua de terra sua, tam de dotibus suis, quam de aliis terris, et tenementis suis; salvis consuetudinibus, et servitiis dominorum de feodo, quæ de dotibus, et aliis tenementis suis debentur. Also from henceforth widows may bequeath the crop of their ground, as well of their dowers, as of other lands and tenements, saving to the lords of the fee, all such services as be due for their dowers and other tenements. This, the second chapter of the Statute of Merton and the translation as they appear in Coke's 2 Inst. 80, 81.

In the language of the translation widows may bequeath the crop, but Coke in his exposition of this chapter says, 'Before the making of this statute, it was a question, whether tenant in dower might devise the corn which she had sown, or whether he in reversion should have them. Some held that she could devise them; or if she devised them not, that her executors should not have them, etc.;' and he also says, in reference to the word legare in this chapter, which is represented in the translation by the word

BEQUEST OF LAND.

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'bequeath,' 'This word (legare) is appropriated to a last will, and signifieth to bequeath goods, chattels, and in some cases lands and tenements. Legatum a lege dicitur quia lege tenetur ille, cui interest perimplere.' So Shakespeare sometimes applies the word bequeath to Real Property.

Robert. Upon his death-bed he by will bequeath"d
His lands to me, and took it on his death
That this my mother's son was none of his;
And if he were, he came into the world
Full fourteen weeks before the course of time.
Then, good my liege, let me have what is mine,
My father's land, as was my father's will.

Elinor. I like thee well: wilt thou forsake thy fortune, Bequeath thy land to him and follow me?

VII.

King John, Act i. Sc. 1.

To whom the elder did this aunswere frame;
'Then weet ye, sir, that we two brethren be,
To whom our sire, Milesio by name,
Did equally bequeath his lands in fee,

Two islands, which ye there before you see
Not farre in sea; of which the one appeares
But like a little mount of small degree;

Yet was as great and wide ere many yeares,

As that same other isle, that greater bredth now beares.'

SPENSER, Faerie Queene, Book v. Canto 4.

Sometimes to personal property, as it is applied at the present day:

Orl. As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion bequeathed me by will but poor a thousand crowns, and, as thou sayest, charged my brother, on his blessing, to breed me well: and there begins my sadness.

As You Like It, Act i. Sc. 1.

Per. An armour, friends! I pray you, let me see it. Thanks, fortune, yet, that, after all my crosses, Thou givest me somewhat to repair myself; And though it was mine own, part of my heritage, Which my dead father did bequeath to me.

Pericles, Act i. Sc. 1.

Ant. But here's a parchment with the seal of Cæsar; I found it in his closet, 'tis his will :

Let but the commons hear this testament-
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read-
And they would go and kiss dead Cæsar's wounds
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy

Unto their issue.

Julius Cæsar, Act iii. Sc. 2.

and sometimes he applies it to words and to things which do not suggest the idea of real or personal property:

Jaq. You to your former honour I bequeath.

As You Like It, Act v. Sc. 4.

BEQUEATH.

Yet die I will not till my Collatine
Have heard the cause of my untimely death;
That he may vow, in that sad hour of mine,
Revenge on him that made me stop my breath.
My stained blood to Tarquin I'll bequeath,
Which by him tainted shall for him be spent,
And as his due writ in my testament.

My honour I'll bequeath unto the knife
That wounds my body so dishonoured.
'Tis honour to deprive dishonour'd life;
The one will live, the other being dead :
So of shame's ashes shall my fame be bred!
For in my death I murder shameful scorn :
My shame so dead, mine honour is new-born.

Lucrece.

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Cæs.

There is my hand.

A sister I bequeath you, whom no brother

Did ever love so dearly: let her live

To join our kingdoms and our hearts; and never

Fly off our loves again!

Antony and Cleopatra, Act ii. Sc. 2.

Pan. Brethren and sisters of the hold-door trade, Some two months hence my will shall here be made : It should be now, but that my fear is this, Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss : Till then I'll sweat and seek about for eases,

And at that time bequeath you my diseases.

Troilus and Cressida, Act v. Sc. 10.

Lys. You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so; For you love Hermia; this you know I know: And here, with all good will, with all my heart, In Hermia's love I yield you up my part;

And yours of Helena to me bequeath,
Whom I do love and will do till my death.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act iii. Sc. 2.

Paul. 'Tis time; descend; be stone no more; approach; Strike all that look upon with marvel. Come, I'll fill your grave up: stir, nay, come away, Bequeath to death your numbness, for from him

Dear life redeems you.

Winter's Tale, Act v. Sc. 3.

P. Hen. At Worcester must his body be interr'd;

For so he will'd it.

Bast.

Thither shall it then :

And happily may your sweet self put on
The lineal state and glory of the land!
To whom, with all submission, on my knee
I do bequeath my faithful services

And true subjection everlastingly.

King John, Act v. Sc. 7.

Χ.

From thence it comes, that this babes bloody hand
May not be clensd with water of this well:
Ne certes, sir, strive you it to withstand,
But let them still be bloody, as befell,
That they his mothers innocence may tell,
As she bequeathd in her last testament;
That as a sacred symbole, it may dwell
In her sonnes flesh, to mind revengëment,
And be for all chaste dames an endlesse moniment.
SPENSER, Faerie Queene, Book ii. Canto 2.

Laf. I would it were not notorious. Was this gentlewoman the daughter of Gerard de Narbon ?

Count. His sole child, my lord, and bequeathed to my overlooking.

All's Well that Ends Well, Act i. Sc. 1.