The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-30 00:00:00

Metropolitan Gossip.

" Whatever may be said of Lord Russell as a
politician," said an old Whig of quality, the other
day, " even the Tories cannot deny that he is a true
Christian ; for he returns them nothing but good for
evil." Patronage has indeed been flowing steadily
towards the Carlton of late. Lord Cowley gets the
Garter; Mr. Julian Fane is made Secretary of the
Embassy ; Mr. Russell Gurney is named Commis-
sioner to Jamaica ; and the brother of Mr. Fre-
mantle, the late Tory candidate for Bristol, though
possessed by marriage of a large private fortune, is
put over the heads of all the working clergy of London
as rector of the valuable parish of St. Mary's, Mary-
lebone. And the only thanks our magnanimous Pre-
mier receives for his painsis incessant abuse from the
Opposition press ; and the withdrawal in sulky seces-
sion from his Government of the more opulent and
stiff-necked of the party. The Duke of Wellington
led the way by compelling his Duchess to resign
her office of Mistress of the Robes ; his brother-in-
law, Sir Robert Peel, followed suit a few weeks
after, declining the Chancellorship of the Duchy of
Lancaster ; and we have the Earl of St. Germans
assigning indisposition as a reason for resigning the
Gold Stick. For the moment the most important
of the Tory appointments is that of the Recorder
of London ; not so much because of the exceeding
vehemence of his party predilections, but for a
reason far more weighty in its possible conse-
quences. The best thing Mr. Russell Gurney can
do, in short, is to leave his wig and gown at home.
Common sense, uncommon energy, and more than
common tact and temper are the qualities that are
wanted in the Commissioners of Inquiry. Their
business is to inquire anyhow and everyhow on their
own responsibility, and not according to any as-
signed or assignable rule, into all that has been
happening of late in Jamaica.

" Who is to be Mistress of the Robes ?"—that
is the question : the addlepate of fashion is fevered
with the momentous doubt contingent there-
on. It must be a duchess, that's quite clear.
Since the great Sarah of Marlborough was Groom
of the Stole to Queen Anne (for the office is
of the epicene gender), it has been one of our poli-
tical principles not to allow any one of less degree
to carry the Key of the Wardrobe. Fate has been
rather unkind to the order of late, and the Whigs
just now are short of duchesses. The princely
homes of Devonshire, Bedford, Norfolk, Leinster,
Portland, and St. Albans are presided over by no
female grace. The choice, consequently, lies within
a narrow circle ; and if the party tradition of the
ruling families be observed, the honour must devolve
either upon the Duchess of Sutherland or her Grace
of Cleveland, for it would hardly do to nominate
the wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty or of
the Privy Seal.—Manchester Guardian of this day.

RECENT WILLS AND BEQUESTS.

(From the Illustrated London News)

The will of Capt. John Sykes, R.N., of Bolso-
ver-street, Portland-place, was proved in London
on the 2d inst., and the personalty sworn under

£40,000. The acting executors and trustees are
Thos. Stilwell and John G. Stilwell, Esq. To each
is left a legacy of £2OO. The will is dated May
14, 1862, and a codicil Nov., 1864. The testator
died on Oct. 23, 1865. Very liberal bequests are
made to his two faithful servants, Charlotte and
Eliza Saunders, who have lived for many years with
himself and wife, leaving to them his house and fur-
niture, with the plate and all other things about the
premises, together with the sum of £2,200 Three
per Cents., and also some house property, free of
succession and legacy duty. He has left legacies to
several of his friends. The residue of his property
he bequeaths to the children of his nieces as therein
particularly described. There are the following
charitable bequests, free of duty :—To the Naval
Benevolent Institution, £2OO ; the Dreadnought, the
Sailors' Home (Wells-street), Sailors' Orphans'.
School (Hampstead), Naval School (New-cross),
Naval School (Richmond) for Daughters of Naval
Officers, London University Hospital, Free Hospi-
tal (Gray's Inn-road), St. Mary's Hospital (Pad-
dington), Consumption Hospital (Brompton), St.
Marylebone Almshouses, District Visiting Society
(Marylebone), each £lOO ; to the Shipwrecked
Mariners' Society, Convalescent Hospital (Walton-
on-Thames), and the Soup Kitchen, Bath-place,
Marylebone, each £5O ; to the Rector of Trinity
district, £2OO, to lay out the interest annually in
the purchase of bread, to be designated " Sykes's
Bread Charity," and distributed to the poor every
Christmas.

The will of Major-Gen. Hamilton Vetch, of her
Majesty's Bengal Army, who died at Dacca, in the
East Indies, in June last, was proved in London on
the 28th ult., by the executors and trustees, Lieut.-
Col. Thomas Brodie, the Rev. Francis R. Traill,
M.A., William Dunlop, Esq., and the testator's
sister, Agnes Vetch Graham, wife of Thos. Graham,
Esq. _ The personalty in England waszworn under
£25,000. The will is dated January, 1865, and a
codicil in May last. He bequeathed to each of
his executors a legacy of £lOO, and has left legacies
to his brothers, sisters, nieces, and to a few other
parties. The residue of his propeity in England
he leaves amongst his three children equally. His
estates in Bengal he leaves as follows :—One-half to
his son Hamilton, one-fourth to his son Robert, and
the remaining fourth to his daughter Agnes Vetch
Graham.

NEW EUROPEAN TELEGRAPH ROUTE.—Senator
Morgan has introduced into the Senate a bill to incorporate
the International Telegraph Company to establish a tele-
graph line between New York and the West Indies. If
this means the Bermudas, and the bill should pass and the
cable be successfully laid, it may be the first link in a line
between the United States and Europe, as any one who
examines the map can see that the new world can be
reached by three or more short links of cable by that
route. They can extend first to the Bermudas, and
thence to the westernmost of the Azores, and thence
to the coast of Europe. We suppose that the coral reefs
and other irregularities of the ocean bed off the southern
coast of America may be considered as offering obstructions
to this route; but if they can be overcome, this line bide
fair to be in operation sooner than that by our immensely
long cable from the coast of Ireland to Newfoundland.
DISCOURAGING TO REBEL BONDHOLDERS.—Near
the close of the rebellion an act of the rebel Legislature of
Virginia ordered the investmeut of all funds held in trust
for orphans and minor children in rebel States bonds.
Governor Pierpont in his late message refers elaborately
to this subject, and insists upon it that the orphans and
those minor children substantially defrauded of their means
of living shall not be the losers. He argues that such an
act would be contrary to both justice and law; and rebel
bonds were unrecognised and unknown to any of the laud
as a valuable consideration or as legal funds. Conse"
quently such an investment should be considered void, and
those who made such disposal of trust funds in their ban
should be held responsible as though such investment 1101
not been made.
BRAGG'S PROPERTY CONFISCATED.—In the ens°
of the United States v. the Greenwood plantation Pro:
perty of Braxton Bragg, the granted delay having ex-
pired and no defence being filed, the Court ordered, on
' motion of the district attorney, that all persons interested
property
in said property be considered in default, and the
be condemned and sold for the benefit of the 'Unite

States.
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