Commodore Vanderbilt's will is in Court, after all. It appears
that he left quite £20,000,000 worth of property behind him, and accumulated £19,000,000 of it on his eldest son, of whom in his life he spoke with grimly humorous contempt,—a habit lie had about most people. The will seems reasonable enough, as the Com- modore provided for all his children ; but his second son and the daughters are disgusted, and relying on the reluctance of Ameri- can juries to sanction majorats, they resist grant of probate of the will. They will, however, compromise for £2,000,000. They allege undue influence, and produce as their argument that the Commodore greatly despised his son, a proof of influence which will probably be too strong even for a New York jury. The lawyers are, however, greatly delighted, and the reporters are sketching and interviewing everybody concerned, not always in an appreciat8ry spirit. Mr. Vanderbilt sniffs and fidgets, and in a man of nineteen millions the reporters do not like that at all.
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