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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 a. vi. JULY 27, 1912.

" Imprimis. I give and grant to her the said Ann Pilkington all the Worldly Substance of which I am this day possessed, or shall hereafter possess or be any way intitled to ; to her I give all the interest, right, title-power or profit which I have or hereafter may have in all houses, Leases, tenements and other holdings, the particulars of which are expressed in our marriage Articles, and if it shall please God to increase my worldly substance and possessions I give all I shall Dye possessed of to her, for her own use and the use of her children (if it please God to bless us with any) to be disposed of in such manner as she may think proper.

" Item. To the said Ann Pilkington my wife, I give, grant and bestow all the household goods, in the house where I at present Dwell, or which may be in any future house which I may hereafter dwell in, as also all my Plate, Books, Paintings, Prints and furniture, goods or Chattels whatso- ever, as well in my dwelling house as the summer house, Manuscripts, Globes, Telescopes and every other part of ornament or furniture as well as guns, &c. and in short every article in my posses- sion, Beseeching God, who is the only fountain of Life and whose Good Providence through the merits of Christ we both have wonderfully ex- perienced, to bless her in the highest degree in this world, and to give her Peace and quiet in this Life and eternal happiness hereafter, and I thus endow her with all my worldly goods, out of a regard to her uncommon worth, and from having suffi- cient proofs of her unexampled Love, Virtue and conjugal affection and fidelity.

" Item. To my son William Pilkington, who never felt a filial affection for me (to the utmost of my observation) I give the sum of five pounds sterls and to those two abandoned wretches John Carteret Pilkington and Elizabeth Pilkington I give the sum of one shilling if Demanded within 12 months, and I should abhorr to mention them in any Deed of mine, if it were not to prevent all possibility of Dispute or litigation.

"I do hereby appoint the aforesaid Ann Pilkington my Dearly beloved wife to be my sole executrix, and appoint John Pigott of Stradbally Esq. to be a Trustee for her, to aid and assist her, as I can confide in his good nature and gene- rous friendship. In testimony of all which I have hereunto fixed my seal and signed this present writing this 14th day of February 1754.

" Matt Pilkington (seal).

" Witness present Hen. Sandes, Ann Brighom, John McMullen.

" 27th day of July 1774.

" On which Day Ann Pilkington the Sole Executrix named in the within Will was sworn as well to her belief of the Truth of the said Will as to the due Execution thereof and so forth.

" Before us Geo Lyndon, Sur.

" Testator died 18 th Instant. Lyndon, Proctor.

" Probate dated 28 th July 1774."

Pilkington, who was born at Ballyboy, in King's County, was the son of one William Pilkington, " faber automatarius," and entered in 1717, at the age of 17, Dublin University from the school of Mr. Neil in Dublin. He was elected in 1721 a Scholar,

and graduated in 1722 Bachelor of Arts' His marriage to the celebrated Letitia Van Lewen took place in 1725, and was dissolved, so far as the power of the ecclesi- astical court extended, thirteen years later ; as appears from the following paragraph in The Dublin Evening Post of 7-11 Feb., 1737/8 :

" Last Tuesday came on in the Spiritual Court the trial of Mrs. Letitia Pilkington alias Van Lewen for adultery with Mr. Adair, which being fully proved, sentence of divorce was pronounced against her by Dr. Trotter, Vicar General of the Diocese and Judge of the Consistorial Court."

Pilkington held the vicarage of Donabate, which was in the presentation of the Arch- bishop of Dublin, from 1741 until his death, F. ELRINGTOX BALL.

Dublin.

" Si JEUNESSE SAVAiT," &c. Often have I this melancholy reflection in my mind. I know not who formulated it, but it seemed to me to bear the stamp of the seventeenth or eighteenth century. It is, however, older than that. Le Boux de Lincy has in his ' Livre des Proverbes fran^ais,' vol. ii. p. 318 :

Si jeunesse scavoit Et vieillesse pouvoit.

Gabr. Meurier,' Tresor des Sentences,' XVP siecle. And in the first series of Docteur Cabanes's ' Les Morts niysterieuses de 1'Histoire ' (pp. 57-8) it is said that Louis VI. of France, who died in 1137,

" disait en g^missant a ses intimes, ' Ah ! quelle miserable condition que la ndtre ! ne pouvoir jamais jouir en meme temps de 1'exp^rience et de la force ! Si j'avais su, etant jeunc, et si je pouvais maintenant que je suis vieux, j 'aura is dompte bien des empires.' "

ST.

No. 50, FLEET STREET. This building, having considerable architectural beauty, had long been a prominent landmark in Fleet Street, and its recent demolition will probably be more noticed by the passer-by than some of the more interesting, but less pretentious houses lost to us by recent changes. It was built from the designs of Beazeley, the architect of the Lyceum Theatre, soon after 1840, when the Amicable Society purchased the site from the Dean and Chapter of York, owners of the freehold of Serjeants' Inn. The Amicable Society was merged into the Norwich Union Insurance Society, the last occupiers of the premises, but the sign of the older society, the serpent and dove, remained above the gateway and as a device on the iron gates closing the roadway