The Press.
London, England, 1855-05-12 00:00:00

THE WILL OF NAPOLEON I.

NEARLY nine columns of the Moniteur of Sunday
last are occupied with a report of the commission
instituted by the decree of August, 1b54, to take into
consideration and execute the will of Napoleon 1.
The commission has resolved on the division of eight
millions of francs, as proposed by the late Emperor.
This sum is disposed of between particular legatees,
the bataillon of the island of Elba, the wounded at
Ligny and Waterloo, the towns of Brienne and Miry,
the provinces of France which suffered most from
invasion, and the veterans who served between the
periods of 1702 and 1815.
The commission call into existence the sums de-
posited with M. Laffitte, with the interest thereon.
The private legatees amount to sixty-six.
The labours of the commission appear to have
been exceedingly great, as it was necessary to ratify
separately the individuality of claimants. Many ap-
plications it appears have been made and rejected.
Thus of the Elba claims 313 were rejected, and 297
admitted.

The wounded at Ligny and Waterloo found 3,583
claimants, of whom only 347 were admitted.
The towns of Brienne and hiery receive respectively
300,000 f. and 400,000 f., which will be disposed of in
gifts to the descendants of the inhabitants who most
suffered, and in the construction of public works.

One million three hundred thousand francs will be
given to the following provinces tdivided amongst
the towns of the same) :—Alsace—Bas-Rhin, Haut-
Rhin; Lorraine—Meurth, Meuse, Moselle, Vosges;
Franche-Comte—Doubs' Haute SaOne, Jura; Bour-
gogne—Ain, Cote-d'Or, SaOne et-Loire, Yonne; Chem-
pagne--Aub, Ardennes, Marne, Haute Marne; Ile
de-France Seine, Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne,
Aisne, Oise; Forez —Loire ; Dauphine Isere,
DrOme, HautesAlpes.
The members of the commission to whom this dif-
ficult task has been confided are—Le General Comte
d'Ornano, gouverneur des Invalides, president;
Rouher, ministre de ]'agriculture, du commerce, et
des travaux publics, vice•president ; De Parieu, vice-
president du conseil d'Etat ; Le Baron J. Boulay,
president de section au conseil d'Etat; De Royer,
conseiller d'Etat, procureur-general 31a cour de ces-
sation; Le Comte Lehon, and Mesnard, maitres des
requetes au conseil d'Etat; Perron, chef do section
au ministere d'Etat, secretaire.

The report concludes bylsay ing—" Thanks to the
pious intentions of your Majesty, thirty-four years
after the death of the Emperor, his last will in favour
of his faithful servants and glorious companions in
arms receives consecration."

The document is signed by A. Fould, Minister of
Finance, and approved by the present Emperor, May
5, 1855. The date of this paper is the anniversary
of the death of Napoleon I.

A PLAN for opening a canal communication be-
tween the Black Sea and the Danube has been pro-
posed by Mr. T. Wilson, formerly a Dutch merchant.
The suggested line of waterway is to run from a
point in the Bay of Kostendje to a part of the river
between Chernavoda and Rassova, the course fol-
lowed being nearly identical with that of the remains
of Trajan's-wall. The distance to be traversed would
be little more than thirty miles, and the mute would
effect a saving of about 250 miles of navigation in
transporting produce from Servia, Bulgaria, and
most parts of Wallachia, while it would also have
the advantage of being away from the neighbourhood
of Russia. Mr. Wilson is said to have sent out some
engineers a few weeks ago to survey the locality ; and
it is added that the Turkish authorities in London
look favorably upon the project. The idea of con-
structing a canal at the St. George's mouth of the
Danube, to escape the impediments purposely accu-
mulated by the Russians at the Sulina mouth, has
often in past years attracted attention ; but, if the
face of the country should be nearly as favorable for
such a work at Kostendje, the general. superiority of
that point would seem to be very great.
A BEAUTIFUL STATUE OF THE POET CAMPBELL has
just been erected in " Poets' Corner," and is now
open to inspection. It is composed of white marble,
and stands on a pedestal of Caen stone. The figure
is full length, rather above the natural size, and re-
presents Campbell in his robes, as Lord Rector of
Glasgow University, an office to which he had the
unusual honour of being elected on three consecutive
occasions. He is represented in a thoughtful mood,
with pen in hand, the left arm resting on a short
pillar, on the face and at the foot of which some
emblems of the poet's inspiration are represented.
The work is well executed by Mr. W. C. Marshall.
THE GRAPE DISEASE has again made its appearance
in many parts of Portugal. The orange and lemon
trees, in addition to the black blight with which they
have been attacked, were injured in the roots by a
worm, which was destroying the trees. In the olive
groves a new disease, caused by the settlement of
myriads af flies, had presented itself.

THE SHIP Creamore arrived in the Mersey on
Sunday, with a number of the Newfbundland comp*
pies on board. She left St. John's on the sth ult.