Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 65.djvu/98

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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

every citizen is to his country. In public life you have been independent and outspoken; in private life you have stood for simplicity. In the great and bewildering conflict of economic and social questions you have with clear head and firm voice spoken for the fundamental principles of democracy and the liberties of the people.

More precious to the sons of Harvard than your service as educator or citizen is your character. Your outward reserve has concealed a heart more tender than you have trusted yourself to reveal. Defeat of your cherished plans has disclosed your patience and magnanimity and your willingness to bide your time.

Fearless, just, and wise, of deep and simple faith, serene in affliction, self-restrained in success, unsuspected by any man of self interest, you command the admiration of all men and the gratitude and loyalty of the sons of Harvard.

THE WILL OF HERBERT SPENCER.

Mr. Spencer's will is a document so interesting and characteristic that we quote some of the details, as published in the London Times. The first clause gives very exact directions as to the burial, and the executors are not to receive their fees unless these are observed. The clause reads: "I direct that if I shall die in any part of Great Britain, my body shall be placed in a coffin with a loose lid easily opened from below, and that it shall be subsequently burned in a proper crematory, and the ashes taken to the space numbered 33,292 purchased by me in the unconsecrated part of the Highgate Cemetery, and deposited in a fit cavity made in the concrete foundation underlying the stone slab now placed there; and my express direction is that my cremation and the subsequent deposition of my ashes shall be conducted without any species of religious ceremony such as is used either by the Church of England or any other sect, though I do not object to an address delivered by a friend; but otherwise the ceremony is to be silent, and I direct that no monument shall be placed over my ashes until at least two months after my funeral."

Among the books and manuscripts bequeathed to the trustees and executors are the 'Autobiography' with directions to secure its simultaneous publication in England and America after the corrections have been made that are marked in the press copy. The 'Autobiography' will be published in America by Messrs. D. Appleton and Co. at about the same time as this issue of the Monthly. Mr. David Duncan is requested to write a biography in one volume, of moderate size, in which shall be incorporated such biographical materials as I have thought it best not to use myself together with such selected correspondence and such unpublished papers as may seem of value, and shall include the frontispiece portrait and the profile portraits, and shall add to it a brief account of the part of my life which has passed since the date at which the autobiography concludes.' The trustees are to give their approval of the biography before it is published, and to arrange with the biographer 'for payment either of a fixed sum to be paid out of my estate or by receipt of the net proceeds of sales in England and the United States; but if the net receipts exceed £600, then the surplus to be equally divided between the biographer and my trustees, who will retain the copyright.'

The will makes numerous personal bequests, such as to Dr. Henry C. Bastian—telescope, case of drawing instruments, etc., reading easel, 'and the invalid bed of my invention with its appliances for private or public use'; to Mrs. Leonard Courtney—a victoria with india-rubber tires; to Mrs. Sidney Webb—'the piano given to me by my American friend, Mr. Andrew Carnegie,' with music-stool, music-shelves, and contained music.

The income from invested property