If I remember
aright--I speak off-hand--the Act of 1. Vic., cap. 26, specifies that a
will shall be in writing, and tattooing may fairly be defined as a rude
variety of writing. It is, I admit, usual that writing should be done on
paper or parchment, but I have no doubt that the young lady's skin, if
carefully removed and dried, would make excellent parchment. At present,
therefore, it is parchment in its green stage, and perfectly available
for writing purposes.
"To continue. It appears--I am taking Mr. Meeson's statement as being
perfectly accurate--that the will was properly and duly executed by the
testator, or rather by the person who tattooed in his presence and at his
command: a form of signature which is very well covered by the section
of the Act of 1. Vic., cap. 26. It seems, too, that the witnesses
attested in the presence of each other and of the testator. It is true
that there was no attestation clause: but the supposed necessity for an
attestation clause is one of those fallacies of the lay mind which,
perhaps, cluster more frequently and with a greater persistence round
questions connected with testamentary disposition than those of any other
branch of the law.
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