When an unknown man of letters published this piece, it stirred the feelings of everyone who read it. In our view it is the most beautiful will in the world, and
so we present it to the readers...
I, the undersigned, Charles Lounsbury, sound of body and mind, declare that this is my will.
"I wish to make no provision concerning that part of my property which the law recognizes as belonging to me, for I consider it of no importance.
"And whereas my right to life is a possession that endures only for the span of a man's days, I cannot dispose of it; but all that remains I shall divide and distribute.
"I bequeath to good fathers and mothers — and I charge them with responsibility for this trust toward their children — all the tender words that overflow with affection, that they may resort to using them every time their children need them.
"I bequeath to all children, for the whole length of their childhood, everything that exists in the world: the flowers of the fields, and the forests, with the right to play among them in full freedom after the custom of children, warning them only of the brambles and the thorns.
And I grant them likewise the banks of the streams, and the gilded sands over which the clear waters flow, and the fragrance of the willow whose branches are wetted by the watercourse, and the white clouds that float very high above the crowns of the great trees. And I leave to the children, that they may find gladness and delight, the long
Leave to the children the flowers of the fields and innocent play...
days, and the moonlit nights, that they may marvel and wonder,
subject to the rights granted, hereafter, to lovers.
"And I bequeath to all boys the many spacious playing fields where they can play ball, and I bequeath to them the limpid waters where they can swim, and all the snow-clad knolls and hills where they can sled, and all
Grant the young men the strength to form firm friendships and keep company with good comrades