The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-04 00:00:00

" This, then, is the question as it stands,—Enrope, en-
gaged in domestic struggles for the last forty years, re-
assured, moreover, by the moderation of the Emperor
Alexander in the year 1815, as well as by that of his suc-
cessor up to this time, seemed to doubt the danger which
menaced it from the colossal power which, by its successive
encroachments, embraces the north and the centre of
Europe, and which possesses almost exclusively two internal
seas, whence it is easy for its armies and its fleets to launch
forth against our civilisation.
" An unfounded demand at Constantinople has been
sufficient to arouse Europe from her sleep.
" We have seen in the East a Sovereign demand, in the
midst of the most profound peace, from his less powerful
neighbour, new concessions, and, because he did not obtain
them, invade two of his provinces. Such a fact as this
ought to put arms in the hands of those who revolt from
injustice ; but we have other reasons for supporting Turkey.
France has as much, and perhaps more, interest than
England in preventing the influence of Russia from ex-
tending itself indefinitely over Constantinople ; for to be
supreme in Constantinople is to be supreme in the Medi-
terranean ; and no one of you, gentlemen, I think, will say
that England alone is largely interested in that sea which
washes 300 leagues of our coast.

" Moreover, this policy does not date from yesterday ; for
ages every national Government in France has maintained
it, and I will not desert it. Let them not, then, come and
ask us ' What are you going to do at Constantinople?' We
are going there with England to defend the cause of the
Sultan, and none the less to protect the rights of the
Christians. We are going there to defend the freedom of
the seas and our just influence in the Mediterranean. We
are going there with Germany, to aid her in preserving the
rank from which, it seems, they wish to degrade her, to
secure her frontiers against the preponderance of a too
powerful neighbour. We are going there, in fact, with all
those who desire the triumph of right, of justice, and of
civilisation.

"In this solemn conjuncture, gentlemen, as in all those
in which I shall be obliged to appeal to the country, I rely
firmly upon you, for I have always found in you the
generous sentiments which animate the nation. Strong,
then, in this security, in the nobleness of our cause, in the
firmness of our alliances, and confiding, above all, in the
protection of God, I hope soon to arrive at a peace which
shall no longer depend on the power of any one to disturb
it with impunity."

MR. LOCKE KING'S BILL.
TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS."

Sir,—l believe that the principal ground on which
the advocates of Mr. Locke King's bill take their
stand is the hardship which in some cases basis the
younger branches of a family, when, the father dying
Intestate, his real estate, under the present law, de-
volves exclusively upon his eldest son.
In order to remedy this defect (which, in cases
where the father leaves little or no personal estate, is
undoubtedly productive of great apparent injustice)
it is proposed by Mr. Locke King's bill, as at present
framed, to render the law of succession to real and
personal estate in cases of intestacy identical.
Now, I would, with the greatest deference, beg
leave to suggest through the medium of your valuable
columns that the desired result might easily be ob-
tained without any such sweeping provision as that
at present projected.

Setting aside the inconvenience and injurious re-
sults which arise from splitting an estate up into a
number of smaller portions, and the heartburnings
and disagreements which the forcible sale of an old
family property would in many cases occasion, it
certainly does appear to me that the mode I venture
to propose, and which is obviously suggested by the
ordinary provisions of a marriage settlement of real
estate, would fully carry out the best objects of the
bill. Why, then, might it not be enacted that, in
case the father dies intestate, his real estate shall, in
the hands of his heir, stand charged with such a sum
of money, for the benefit of the widow and younger
children, as, with the amount of their shares of his
personal estate, will bear a specified proportion to
the whole of the property, real and personal, of which
he died possessed? This proportion might be
made to vary according to the number of the younger
children ; and, though the provisions of the bill
would no doubt have to be very carefully framed,
there does not seem to be anything impracticable in
the proposition.

If this mode were adopted, that which must be ad
mitted to be a legitimate and laudable object might,
I apprehend, be carried into effect without entirely
altering the very first principles of our real-property
law.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,

EQUITY.

THE quantity of wine retained for home consumption in
France is about 792,000,000 gallons, equal to one hectolitre
or twenty-two gallons to each inhabitant, or about half a pint
daily. Of this quantity, however, it is estimated that about
210,000,030 gallons are used in the manufacture of spirits.
In 1852 the quantity of wine paying excise duty in France
was 520,366,000 gallons, and of brandy 18,557,000 gallons.
The Moniteur states that the total amount of excise duties
received for the year 1853 upon wine and spirits was
114,062,000 f., being an increase since 1847 of 0,062,000 f.,
or 242,4801.