words of the Act: "And such signature" (the signature to the Will) "shall be made or acknowledged by the Testator, in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, and such witnesses shall attest and shall subscribe the Will in the presence of the Testator." Hitherto the law relating to the witnessing of Wills has been different for different descriptions of property. Real estate, for example, required three witnesses, money in the funds two*; but for other personal estate there was no inflexible rule. The law is now uniform, and two witnesses are equally necessary, whether to pass the real estate of the wealthiest nobleman, or the stock in trade of the humblest shopkeeper. This is the great and essential point to be kept in view. The construction that may be put on the contents of a Will is matter which may still be discussed in the courts;

But with respect to funded property, the want of witnesses was a defect easily remedied at the bank, by the affidavit of two credible persons acquainted with the handwriting of the deceased.

C

but an omission to comply with the required formalities is now irremediable.

A vast deal of litigation has arisen, heretofore, on the question of the qualification of the witnesses to Wills. The late Act puts an end to all this, by declaring, "That if any person, who shall attest the execution of a Will, shall, at the time of the execution thereof, or at any time afterwards, be incompetent to be admitted a witness to prove the execution thereof, such Will shall not, on that account, be invalid.

The witnesses usually sign their names opposite a form of words beginning, "Signed, sealed," &c., and stating that they have signed in the presence of the Testator and of each other. Perhaps it will be advisable to continue this 'form (see page 82.), though no form of attestation is absolutely necessary, and the signatures of the Testator and two witnesses will be sufficient for a valid execution.

With respect, however, to witnesses, the general rule that no one shall be permitted to give testimony in his own cause is not contravened by the new Act, and, consequently, every Testator must take care not to put any person, to whom or to whose wife or husband he has given a legacy, into the situation of a witness to his Will; for though the validity of the Will, as a whole, will not be thereby affected, the legacy to that witness will be void.

A creditor may, notwithstanding, be a witness to a Will without forfeiting his debt, and an executor may be a witness, without invalidating his appointment to the executorship. The law now appears to be plain and simple. Of whatever description the property of the testator may be, his Will must be written in his lifetime, and signed by him at the end, or by some person for him, in his presence, and in the presence of two witnesses, who must sign their names in the

Testator's presence, and in the presence of each other. These are all the formalities required to render valid the Will of any Testator who is competent to make one.

OF REVOKING AND ALTERING WILLS.

A WILL, or Codicil, once effectually made, cannot be altered or revoked but in a manner as formal as that in which it is required to be made; that is to say, "by another Will or Codicil executed in manner hereinbefore required, or by some other writing, declaring an intention to revoke the same, and executed in the manner in which a Will is hereinbefore required to be executed, or by the burning, tearing, or otherwise destroying the same, by the Testator, or by some person in his presence, and by his direction, with the intention of revoking the same."

A Will is not revoked by any presumption of

an intention to revoke or alter it, on the ground of an alteration in circumstances.

But if a Will or Codicil, or any part of a Will or Codicil, shall have been revoked, it cannot be revived unless it be executed over again as a fresh Will or Codicil is required to be; or by the addition of a Codicil so executed, and showing an intention to revive that which had been previously revoked. And if a Will or Codicil shall be revoked in part, and the whole shall afterwards be revoked, and then the Will and Codicil shall be revived (all the required forms in revoking and reviving being complied with), the revival shall not be taken to extend to the part which was first revoked, unless there shall be an intention manifestly shown to revive that part as well as the rest.

If a Testator desire to make an alteration in his Will, rather than to make a new one, or to obliterate some portion, or to add something by interlineation or otherwise, he may do so, provided his